Guardian
by thymebug
Summary: Kagome has someone following her, but she can't see who it is. Why is she hearing voices? Is this invisible stalker here to help? IK
1. Prologue

Disclaimer- None, because I own Inuyasha….

Okay, I really don't. :-(

Comments and constructive criticism are welcome. Flames will be used to roast weenies and make s'mores.

Prologue

Another day, another pile of homework.

"Twenty-five algebraic equations, three workbooks, two research papers…and a partridge in a pear tree." Kagome smiled slightly at her last addition. The smile faded as she silently went over her list of class assignments for the week in her head, hoping she hadn't forgotten to bring anything home.

"I hate Mondays," she sighed to herself as she plodded down the sidewalk to where she lived. As she neared the steps to the entrance of the shrine she resolved to get an early start this time so she wouldn't be rushing the day before everything was due. Again.

Coming to a sudden halt, Kagome balled her hand into a fist and brought it up to mid-chest with a determined look. "And I'll actually follow my advice this time! Uh huh!" With a quick nod Kagome resumed her walk. She was just starting up the steps when she heard a voice.

"Do you always talk to yourself like that?"

Startled, Kagome whirled around to see who was there.

"Huh?"

There was no one there.

Looking up and down the sidewalk in search of the owner of the somewhat rude comment, Kagome heard a soft chuckled from behind her. She once again spun around to find only empty air.

"Souta! Is that you? Stop fooling around!" Sure that her little brother was playing a prank on her, Kagome shrugged off her confusion and continued her way up to her front door, determined to ignore any further disembodied comments or laughter.

As Kagome walked into her house and called out to her mother she was home, she failed to notice the teenage boy watching her from the steps where she had just been. Even as she turned to close the door and took one more quick look around the entrance way, her eyes skimmed across the youth as if he wasn't there. As the front door shut the boy gave a quick shake of his head as if to clear it. The slightly puzzled expression he had been wearing was replaced by an impassive look as he set off after the school girl.

"That was a first," he whispered, before walking into the Higurashi shrine through the wall.

* * *

If this seems promising to anyone, let me know and I'll continue. 


	2. Words on the Wind

Disclaimer-Inuyasha is not mine, at least not outside my fantasies...

AN-Who knew a few words under the review section could make a person so happy! Thank you! Hopefully I will clear up anyconfusion in later chapters.

'_Italics'thoughts_

Words on the Wind

BRRT! BRRT! BRRT!

A hand darted from under the covers and hit the ringing alarm clock with a loud thump. In the silence afterwards, a small and somewhat muffled groan could be heard.

"Uhn…too early..." Sitting up slowly, Kagome yawned and rubbed her eyes as she mentally berated herself for, yet again, pulling an all-nighter to complete her homework on time. And also, she told herself, for the umpteenth time, it wouldn't happen again and that _next time_ she would definitely start on it right away. Of course school was ending in a couple weeks, so perhaps it was a little late to start changing her study habits. "Hmm." Kagome wrinkled her nose in thought. '_Then again, what better time to start studying properly than right before finals.' _With a little shrug, Kagome got out of bed and headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth and get ready for school, figuring if she continued to linger on the subject of how to better her study skills, she would never leave her room and would miss finals altogether.

After getting dressed and grabbing breakfast, she headed to the front door, stopping to give her mother a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Bye Mom! I'll see you later!" Kagome was just about to step outside when her mother called out to her.

"Oh, Kagome dear, don't forget to come straight home, I have to go out later and I need you here to watch your brother."

Kagome looked back and huffed, "Why can't Grandpa watch him?"

Her mother smiled and shook her head. "You know your grandfather is sorting through that new shipment of ancient relics. He'll be to busy to keep Souta out of trouble. Please, Kagome?"

Sighing a bit melodramatically, Kagome relented. "Sure, okay mom."

"Oh, thank you sweetheart. Now go to school before you're late."

As Kagome walked towards school she struggled to suppress her yawns. During one particularly jaw-cracking yawn, she failed to notice a rather large pothole in the sidewalk and tripped as her foot caught on the concrete. Caught by surprise, the girl flailed her arms uselessly for a second and then pitched forward to what was sure to be a very hard landing. Kagome felt a gentle, almost imperceptible brush of wind near her right elbow and suddenly she was on her feet again, as if someone had steadied her. Turning around to thank her rescuer, Kagome was faced with an empty sidewalk with only the pigeons occupying it besides her.

"Clumsy girl…"

Feeling a slight case of déjà vu, Kagome turned around to see who had spoken.

And of course, there was no one.

"O…okay…" Feeling a little creeped out, Kagome decided that it definitely couldn't be her brother playing a trick on her this time, since he had already left for school. Trying to shake off the weird feeling that someone was following her, Kagome hurried back on her way to school. "This is too weird… and I'm not clumsy," she said to herself.

And of course it was just her imagination, or the wind, whichever was more logical, when she heard a soft "Feh…"

* * *

When the last bell rang at the end of class, Kagome couldn't keep the wide grin off her face as she packed up her books.

"Hey Kagome, what are you so happy about?" Her friend Ayumi asked.

"No school tomorrow!" Kagome stated happily glad to be able to relax for a day. The teachers had really been piling on the work lately and she was looking forward to time off from learning about famous chemists and mathematical theorems. Even if it was just for a couple days.

"So, you want to go to the mall with us Kagome?" Yuka asked as she and Eri joined Kagome at her desk. "They're having a big sale at one of the department stores, though I forget which one."

"Sorry guys, I have to watch my brother today." Kagome pulled a face and gave a little shrug. "Maybe some other time."

Eri waved her hand as if dismissing the thought. "Don't worry about it. They have sales all the time. Besides it's not like we really have much money anyways." All the girls gave a little sigh at that small truth.

Shouldering her backpack, Kagome gave her friends a little wave and headed out of the classroom. "Bye guys! I'll see you on Monday."

"Bye Kagome!" they chorused.

Kagome stepped into the hallway and let the door close behind her. As she was making her way to her locker to leave behind some of the school books she didn't need that weekend, she felt a tug on the back of her shirt. Stopping, she was about to look around when a soccer ball went whizzing by her head right in front of her. It impacted with the lockers to her left and hit them hard enough to leave a sizable dent.

'_Jeez, that could have been my head!_'

Turning to the owner of the ball she yelled angrily, "Hey watch where you're kicking that thing!"

A boy a couple years younger than her smiled sheepishly and said apologetically, "Sorry, I didn't see you there. I'm glad you stopped so suddenly, I would have felt horrible if it had hit you!" With another quick "Sorry!" the boy scooped up the Ball of Minor Destruction then ran off down another corridor with his friends before a teacher could catch them and yell about the dent in the locker and playing sports in the halls. Forgetting what had made her stop in the first place, Kagome continued her way to her locker, mumbling under her breath about unruly youths and disrespect for certain school rules.

"Little hooligans…" she mumbled while spinning the combination to open her locker door. Speaking of little hooligans, she needed to hurry and get home before Souta found some random destruction of his own. Quickly putting away her books, Kagome closed the small metal door and headed home.

* * *

"Souta, I'm home!" Kagome shouted as she ran up the stairs to put away her school stuff.

A yell from the living room alerted her to her brother's whereabouts. "In here sis!"

Heading into the living room to join her brother, Kagome briefly wondered why her mother was so worried about Souta getting into trouble. Ever since she had bought him that new video game console, he's been glued to the TV every chance he could get. Sure enough, when Kagome walked into the living room, there was her brother, sitting on the floor with a controller in his hand and an incredibly focused look on his face.

"Don't you have homework to do?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

Not looking up from his game, he replied "There's no school tomorrow. I'll do it later."

"Procrastinating won't help; go do your homework now and then you can play."

"Lectures on putting things off from you? So exactly how late _did_ you stay up last night sis?" Souta said in a teasing voice.

"Er… not that late, um, that's not the point though! Oh… never mind." Defeated by her sibling's obvious logic (ouch it hurt to admit he was right!), Kagome left him to his game and headed back upstairs to her room. "I'll be in my room, okay? Mom should be back in a little bit, so be good 'til then." The only reply she received was a noncommittal "Mmm" as he was once more engrossed in his video game. "Those things will rot your brain you know," Kagome stated with a small sigh before walking back out of the living room and up to her own room once more.

Determined to set a good example, Kagome picked up her backpack and pulled out her weekend assignments. "Okay girl, from now on homework comes first. Right!" With that she grabbed a pencil and went after her work with a fury.

Fifteen minutes later, Kagome was staring out the window at her yard and making little doodles on the boarder of her paper. Straightening up, Kagome looked to see how much she had written so far. Well, at least she got the title down… _'Oh well, it's not like I have to do this right now. I have all weekend.' _

Kagome leaned back in her chair, stretching her legs out and raising her arms above her head. Trying to work out a kink in her back, she leaned back even further and instead overbalanced and almost tipped the chair over. Almost. Just as before when she tripped on the way to school, Kagome felt a soft, barely discernible breeze and got the feeling someone or something had just kept her from spilling onto the floor.

"Not clumsy huh?"

Kagome froze at the sound of an unfamiliar voice in her room. As if in some cheesy horror film, she turned slowly in her chair to look behind her.

And was suddenly angry when once again, there was no one there.

"Alright! That's it! Who is that? Souta, are you trying to trick me again?" Of course it wasn't her brother though, because she would have heard him come in and as she listened closely, she could still here him playing his game downstairs, yelling softly at it occasionally. Realizing this, she was suddenly afraid again, if only for her own sanity. "Okay…is, um, is someone there?" A blush rose in her cheeks as she recognized that she was probably talking to an empty room or at the most, some very attentive dust bunnies. '_Good thing no one is here to witness this embarrassing display of paranoia'_. "I guess it was just the wind…" she mumbled, not even convincing herself.

She was just about to check the window for faulty sealing when…

"You…can hear me?"

Kagome stopped with her hand inches from the window frame and did one more quick survey of her room. Nope, still just the dust bunnies. Letting her hand drop and resigning herself to the fact that she was either hearing voices in her head, or that there was an invisible person in her room, Kagome softly replied, "Yes, I can hear you."

* * *

AN-I'll try and make chapters a decent size if I can, but keep in mind shorter chapters _do_ make for quicker updates. ;-)

Bye for now and thanks for reading.


	3. A Not So Silent Helper

Disclaimer-Mmm, nope, still not mine.

AN- Thanks again for reading, I apologize in advance (and retrospect) for any mistakes in grammar or spelling, I try to catch them all, but hey, even a couple get by my sharp eyes. :-)

A Not So Silent Helper

There was a short pause after Kagome admitted she could here the voice in her room, in which she briefly entertained the idea of going downstairs and grabbing one of grandpa's warding charms from the shrine. Surely this wasn't some demon though…

"Er, excuse me, but are you some kind of, um, evil spirit? Cause if you are, I have to warn you, my grandpa is a very powerful shrine priest and he'll kick your butt all the way back to wherever you came from! So don't even think of hurting me!" Okay, so she was embellishing a little bit, but the voice didn't know that. At least she didn't think it did.

"Feh, dumb girl, if I was going to hurt you, do you think I would have kept you from falling on your ass so many times?"

Kagome bristled a little at being called dumb and stated sharply, "How should I know what you're thinking huh? You could just be saving up for something big and awful." Even as she said it, Kagome realized how ridiculous that sounded. Why would an evil spirit care if she tripped and scrapped her knee on the sidewalk, or knocked her head from falling out of a chair if it was just going to hurt her later on? Speaking of knocking heads though, Kagome thought back to almost getting whacked upside hers earlier, with a high speed soccer ball.

"That was you that kept me from getting hit this afternoon wasn't it?"

From the direction of her bed, she heard a softly grumbled, "Maybe." Looking over to where the voice was now coming from, she asked somewhat huffily, "Can you please stop moving around? I can't see you, you know."

The equally huffy reply was,"Yeah well, you're not supposed to hear me either. Who are you?"

"Who am I? Who are _you? _Why are you following me and why are you in my house!" She had to admit she was somewhat surprised to hear he didn't know who she was. '_What's the point of stalking someone if you don't know who they are? I mean, it kind of defeats the purpose right?'_

Now the reply came from beside her desk and Kagome once more turned to 'face' him, more or less. "Who I am is none of your business wench. And it's not like I want to follow you, constantly keeping your accident prone ass out of trouble. I have no choice okay! So don't go getting all pissy about it!"

'_Why of all the rude…'_

"Hey, I'll get pissy if I want to get pissy alright! This is my home you've so irritatingly invaded and I'll thank you to remember that! Now tell me who you are and what you want!" Just in time, Kagome remembered her brother was downstairs and lowered her voice. "And stop moving. It's aggravating."

"Oh gee, sorry", came the sarcastic retort from near her door. She got the distinct feeling he (it was definitely a boy's voice she heard) was just doing that to further annoy her. Fine she would outsmart him. She walked over to her bed and sat on it with her back to the wall. There, now she could see the whole room without having to keep turning around all the time. _'Ha! I win.'_

Deciding it really couldn't hurt to tell him who she was (and feeling only a little silly for still talking to an empty room and a floating voice) she said, "My name is Kagome."

Instead of returning with his own name as she thought he would, the boy-voice only snorted and said, "Well duh. I knew that much."

"Well then why did you ask me?" she exclaimed angrily. Jeez, this guy was infuriating!

"What I meant was, who are you that you are able to hear me when no one else can." He said this slowly as if talking to someone who was having trouble keeping up.

Crossing her arms over her chest she grumbled, "You could have just said that. How should I know?" If this guy was going to keep being so rude she was going to leave. _'Of course he'll probably just come after me.'_ Then again, if he had just stayed quiet, she would have never known she was being followed in the first place. And for that matter, exactly how long _had_ he been following her?

"Er, have you been here…long?"

"You want to know how long I've been watching you, you mean."

Well, guess he was a little more perceptive than she originally thought. "Yeah…"

She could almost hear the smirk in his voice as he said, "Long enough…"

A dozen scenes flew though her head as she though of all the embarrassing things he had probably been witness to in the last week alone… Then another even more humiliating thought occurred to her.

"You pervert!" she all but screamed.

"Hey, no! Wait a minute, I didn't mean it like that!" he said quickly.

"You've seen me in my bedroom, in the bathroom…in the girl's locker room! You sick little-"

She was cut off by an equally perturbed voice that shouted, "Now hold on! I am not a pervert okay! I don't watch you get undressed or anything, I just make sure you stay safe. So stop shouting already!"

"Well you're shouting too!"

"Am not!"

"Yes you are!"

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes! You…wait a minute. What do you mean you make sure I stay safe?"

A pause, and then a clipped," Nothing."

"Don't tell me 'nothing'. What did you mean?" Kagome began to worry a little. "Am I in trouble or something? Is…is something going to happen?"

She gave a small gulp at the thought of being the target of some weird cosmic plot of execution. It was such a strange notion, that someone would be out to get her from somewhere on another planet or in a different dimension or something, that she shook her head and smiled slightly. There was no way that could happen outside of a sci-fi or fantasy novel. Things like that just didn't happen in real life. Then again, neither did people talking from invisible bodies. The smile was replaced by another frown of worry.

"Stop worrying so much, you'll give yourself a headache."

Frowning even more, Kagome replied, "How sweet of you to be concerned."

She imagined he gave a little shrug when he said, "Just doing my job."

"You act as though someone forced you to do this."

Again she imagined a shrug, "Something like that I guess."

"Well, if it means anything, thank you for saving me from several nasty bumps today." Kagome figured she could at least be nice about it since it seemed as if he really didn't want to be here in the first place. Maybe she could get a few answers out of him though.

"So…how long are you going to be here?"

"Dunno."

"Okay, and other than to keep me safe, why are you here?"

"Dunno."

"Al…right, and why is it I can hear you but not see you?"

"Dunno."

"…Uh huh." Kagome's eyebrow began to twitch in frustration. "Do you know anything?"

"Sure."

When he didn't continue, she started to feel as though he was beginning to enjoy teasing her with his stupid one word answers.

"Fine, be that way you stubborn jerk." She muttered to herself. "See if I care." If he didn't want to talk, that was fine by her. She would just sit there until he cracked. Or until she did. _'No way, I'm not speaking to him again until he's at least civil to me. Stupid floating voice thing. Won't even tell me his name.'_

Unknown to Kagome, as she sat on her bed mentally chewing out her unwanted guest, the boy in question was pacing back and forth doing almost the same thing. _'Stupid girl. Why did she have to go and hear me? Why can't she just be oblivious like everyone else? Now she's gotta ask all these dumb questions. Hmph, give me the silent treatment will you? Well it's not gonna work! It's not like I care if you talk to me or not.'_ But the boy had to admit, (if only to himself) it _was_ nice to speak with someone after so long. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to just give his name to her? But damned if he would be the first to say something!

A few minutes passed by and Kagome was itching with curiosity in the silence. After all, it wasn't every day that a girl was endowed with her own invisible protector. Even if he _was_ an unsociable jerk. She was just about to let her pride take a small hit and say something, when she heard his voice again.

"My name's Inuyasha."

Forgetting what she had planned to say, Kagome instead greeted him a politely as she could. "It's, um, nice to meet you Inuyasha." _'I think' _

"Whatever."

Kagome gritted her teeth as she tried to keep from saying something that would surely be the start of another argument. _'Can't he just be nice for once?'_ Kagome cleared her throat and tried again to start a conversation.

"So, where do you come from? Are you, like, dead or something?"

"No, I don't think I'm dead…and as far as I know I'm from here. Just not from now."

Kagome was a little confused by that, but let it slide in hopes of keeping up the flow of words from him. It was a definite improvement over his sarcasm and one word replies. "Alright, well as long as you're here we need to establish some rules."

"Huh? Rules?"

She nodded her head, "That's right. First, there will be no peeping of any kind."

"Hey, I already told you I don't-"

"Second," she continued, cutting of his protest, "Since I'm the only one who can hear you and I don't want people to think I'm crazy, try not to talk to me when other people are around."

"I'll talk whenever I feel like it wen-"

"And last," Kagome hurried on, interrupting him once more," No sneaking up behind me a trying to scare me anymore. I almost had a heart attack that first time."

"Now that wasn't my fault," he said, and seeing he wasn't going to be interrupted this time continued, "I didn't know you were going to hear me."

"Oh, so you always insult people when you think they aren't listening do you?"

"Pretty much."

"That seems kind of mean," she said with a little frown.

"Whatever, it's not like they're offended or anything."

"Still…"

"Look girl, when you have to follow someone around for years on end without anybody to talk to, you see what you do for fun. Until then, stop criticizing me!"

Kagome held up her hands in defense, "Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean anything by it. Wow, years? That's…a long time without company," she said, feeling a little sorry for him. Flashing a bright smile in the general direction of Inuyasha, she then stated happily, "Well now you have me to keep you company."

"Oh joy," he said with a sigh.

* * *

AN- Hope you liked it, suggestions are always welcome, so don't hesitate to tell me if I start writing crap. LoL

Bye for now!


	4. Butting Heads

Disclaimer-Come on do I really have to say it? Well, for legal reasons I guess I do, so, I do not own Inuyasha. Why does it hurt so much to say that….

AN- Thanks to reviews and readers new and old. Your devotion to my story inspires me:-)

Butting Heads

Kagome was just about to demand Inuyasha tell her what he meant with that remark when she heard the front door open and her mother call out to her.

"Kagome! Souta! I'm home! What do you guys want for dinner?"

Temporarily forgetting her see-through companion, Kagome jumped up from the bed and ran over to the door. Flinging it open she stuck her head out and bellowed downstairs, "Gyoza mom! You promised to make gyoza tonight!"

A slightly muffled "Oh, that's right" floated up to her. "Okay Kagome dear, come down and set the table in about half an hour will you?"

"Sure Mom!"

She popped her head back in the room and closed the door. As soon as it clicked shut she remembered she had an audience and turned around to say somewhat sheepishly, "My mom makes the best dumplings…"

"Uh huh," was the short reply.

Blushing slightly she walked over to her desk and plopped down in her chair. She glanced down at her sad attempt at a book report and decided that maybe she could manage at least a few paragraphs before dinner. But instead of picking up her pen, she found herself thinking more about the situation she had found herself in. _'I wonder how long it will be like this; feeling awkward because I know someone is constantly watching me and wondering what he's thinking about me...'_ Leaning back in her chair once more, she tilted her head up to stare at the ceiling while again mulling over exactly how long Inuyasha had been trailing her around. _'It really can't have been that long can it? He doesn't seem like the type to keep quiet for very long. So maybe only a week or two at most.'_ Kagome felt somewhat relieved as she reasoned this out. So he hadn't been watching her all that long really. It was weird for him to be spying on her at all, but at least now she knew he was there and could keep from embarrassing herself too much. She hoped.

"Oi, wench. You giving me the silent treatment again?"

Eyebrow twitching in irritation, but not removing her sight from the ceiling she replied, "No, I'm just thinking. And my name is Kagome, not wench. So learn it and use it will ya?"

A small snort and then, "Whatever wench."

Feeling as though she had only succeeded in giving him something else to annoy her with, Kagome sat up in her chair and swiveled around to look in the direction of Inuyasha's voice. "Are you always this polite, or am I just lucky?"

"I think you're just lucky. No one else ever complained."

"That's because no one else could hear you!" she said in exasperation.

"Oh yeah."

Kagome just shook her head at that, wondering if he had actually forgotten, or if he was just teasing her again. _'Probably wouldn't tell me either way, oh well.' _Instead of pursuing the argument, she changed the subject to something else that had been on her mind.

"So, Inuyasha, how many other people have you protected from skinned knees and bumped heads besides me?"

"I dunno…a few I guess."

"What do you mean you guess? Don't you know?"

"Of course I know! I just don't care, okay!"

"How can you not care about someone you're protecting?" Kagome asked with a frown.

"Probably because I never wanted to be there in the first place. It's just something I do, like a job or something. Only I don't get paid."

Kagome tilted her head to one side as she thought about that. "But that doesn't make sense Inuyasha. Why take a job to keep someone safe if you don't care about them and don't want to be there? Especially if you're not getting paid…"

"Are you completely brainless or something? How many times do I have to tell you I _don't _have a choice in the matter? I don't actually mean it's a job, it was just a damn example!" came the heated retort from the opposite wall from where she first started looking.

"Well excuse me," she hissed angrily, turning. "Maybe if you actually spoke more than three words without biting my head off, I would understand you better. You know, actually have a polite and _civilized_ conversation. In case you didn't know, that's where you answer someone's questions _without_ sarcasm and speak to them without insulting them or calling them rude names. But I suppose that's beyond your grasp, now isn't it?" Somewhere in the back of her head she knew he _had_ in fact told her something to that effect, but by now Kagome was in a rare temper and was standing up with her hands in balled into fists. "Maybe the reason no one ever talked to you wasn't because they couldn't hear you, but because you're such an irritating jerk all the time!" With that final bust of angry words, she turned and walked to her door, yanking it open. "And you can just stay up here for dinner. I don't need to here your stupid voice while I'm eating." Having said that, she promptly walked out of the room and closed the door with only a tiny bang, mentally congratulating herself for not slamming it as hard as she could. Her mom would surely wonder what was wrong if she did.

* * *

'_I can't believe I ever felt sorry for him. He deserves to be alone _' Kagome stopped halfway down the stairs and briefly wondered if she should tell her family about her unwilling (and unusual) guest. But in the end she decided that they would probably just think she was overstressed from school or was maybe a little crazy. _'Nah, no need for them to worry over my mental health, I'm doing that enough right now for all of us.'_

Resuming her trek to the dining room, Kagome was unaware of an incredibly pissed off Inuyasha following her down the steps. _'Try bossing me around little girl? I'll teach you to yell at me like some naughty child. Let's see how you like your own medicine wench.'_

When Kagome reached the dining room door she stopped once more and took a deep breath. Letting it out, Kagome tried to let her frustration and annoyance flow out with the air in her lungs. When she felt as though she were calm enough to face her mother without her seeing that something was wrong, Kagome walked into the room to set the table for dinner. The last of her anger melted away when she smelled her mother's delicious fried dumplings in the air.

"Mmm yummy," she said appreciatively, almost drooling in anticipation. "Hey mom, those smell great!"

"Thank you dear. Souta sweetie, go get your grandfather, will you? Dinner will be ready in ten minutes."

"Okay mom," was the reply from the living room, where Kagome assumed he was still playing his video game at. Then the sound of footsteps towards the front door and the open and shut of the door itself.

Kagome began to put out the plates and bowls for everyone in her family, letting her thoughts roam once more. _'Maybe I was a little harsh on him? It can't be easy to be alone for so long, heck, I'd go crazy after a week. He said he'd been doing this for years. I guess anyone would be grumpy after that long. And if he really is being forced to be here, I suppose I can't really blame him for being so testy and not wanting to talk to me about why he's here. Maybe if I try being nice he'll open up some more. I just have to not let him get to me. Jeez he can be so difficult though!' _

She was just finishing her mental ramble when her mother walked in with a large platter of the much anticipated gyoza. Immediately her stomach started to rumble and her mother laughed at the noise.

"Okay Kagome, I hear you. We'll eat just as soon as your brother and grandfather come back. Go and bring the rice in here for me would you."

"K." Trying to send her brother and grandpa a telepathic message to hurry up, she grabbed the steaming bowl off the counter and turned to go back in the dining room when she heard an increasingly familiar voice speak up from behind her.

"Hope you don't mind me coming down to join you."

Kagome froze mid-step and looked to see if her mother was in hearing range before whispering, "I asked you to stay upstairs!"

"No, actually you _told_ me to stay upstairs and I don't appreciate you trying to order me around. I'll go where I want and I really don't see how you could stop me anyways, wench."

Still whispering in case her mother overheard she said, "Okay fine, but try and behave yourself would you?"

"Of course," Inuyasha said in a seemingly innocent voice

Kagome wasn't sure what he was up to, but figured he was right in saying there was nothing she could do about it. Resigning herself to that fact, she sighed softly and continued on into the dining room with the rice.

Inuyasha watched with a slight smile as the young girl in front of him put down the bowl in the middle of a table and sat down to join her family. It was a good thing she couldn't see the mischief in his eyes as she chatted away obliviously or she might have been apprehensive of what was to come. _'I think it's time for a little fun.' _With that thought, his smile grew just a little bit evil.

* * *

AN- Ta da!

Bye for now.


	5. An Uninvited Dinner Guest

Disclaimer- Inuyasha is_ not_ owned by yours truly.

AN-Umm…on with the story!

An Uninvited Dinner Guest

Kagome happily swapped chit chat with her family as they filled up their plates with the rice and dumplings on the table in front of them. The complete normalcy of the everyday exchange of pleasantries helped her to forget her odd situation for a few moments. As everyone began to dig in to their food, Kagome spared a thought that Inuyasha was being very accommodating with her request for silence and she would have to make up for her earlier outburst to him. _'I'll apologize to him after dinner. I can get really grumpy when I'm hungry, but he didn't know that, poor guy.' _Bringing her chopsticks up to her mouth, she was about to take her first bite of dinner when her arm froze in mid air. _'What the...'_ She tried again to bring it to her mouth, but her arm refused to budge, it was almost as though someone was holding it…

Gritting her teeth in realization, she tried to put her arm down, but found that she couldn't move it in any direction at all. Her hand was just stuck there, halfway between her plate and her lips. She tugged uselessly at the invisible hand attached to her wrist, trying to at least move her arm down to the table before someone noticed.

"Kagome dear, what's wrong? You haven't tried anything yet. I thought this was your favorite."

Putting on an expression of nonchalance, she said, "Oh I'm just, uh, letting it cool off mom. It's really hot."

"Oh alright then, don't burn your tongue." With that comment her mother went back to discussing the different relics her grandpa had been sorting through the whole afternoon.

Giving another ineffectual yank, Kagome hissed under her breath, "Inuyasha, let me go!"

"No," was the only reply she got.

Beginning to feel somewhat desperate that he would keep her in the same position for the rest of the night, Kagome gave one last mighty jerk of her arm and was rewarded with a very loud crash as her fist came in contact with the table only inches from her dinner plate. _'Ow ow ow ow.'_

"Kagome!" Her head snapped up at her name and she turned a bright shade of red as she saw everyone staring at her with surprised looks on their faces.

"Er, sorry. I, uh…there was a fly…" she managed to say through her embarrassment. "Sorry," she said again somewhat lamely, inwardly fuming as she distinctly heard the sound of amused laughter behind her.

Her mother merely raised an eyebrow at this and went back to eating and listening as Souta recounted his day at school to her. Her grandfather just gave her an odd look before returning to his meal also.

Kagome once again picked up her chopsticks and the dumpling that had dropped from her fingers. This time she couldn't even raise her hand off the table. She wanted to scream in frustration, but somehow managed to rein it in long enough to close her eyes and slowly count to ten. Trying one more time to eat, she cautiously lifted her hand and found it unhindered. '_Oh thank goodness. Maybe he's getting tired of bothering me…yeah right.'_ As she opened her mouth to take a bite, she felt a small pressure on her chopsticks and then heard the plop of her food hitting her plate.

She once again felt her eyebrow twitching, giving away her internal irritation to any who knew her. She quickly scooped up the sorely abused dumpling and tried to get it to her mouth before he could stop her again.

Plop.

"Good going wench. You know, you're even clumsier than I thought if you can't even bring food to your mouth properly."

And again, scoop, lift, plop.

"Jeez, that's just pathetic."

And then, as she failed again and her almost completely destroyed fried dumpling hit the plate for a fourth time, she realized she had the undivided attention of her family once more.

"Uh, Kagome?" her little brother spoke up, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she managed to get out between clenched teeth.

Her mother opened her mouth to say something to her, but was drowned out (unbeknownst to her) by Inuyasha's voice loudly asking right next to her ear, "Yeah, what's the problem? You seem to be having some trouble with your chopsticks."

Realizing her mother was waiting for her to say something, but having no idea what she had just said, Kagome stalled with a quick, "Sorry mom, I didn't hear that. What did you say?"

Her mother gave a worried frown and answered, "I said sweetie-"and was for a second time cut off by Inuyasha.

"She _said_ that you need to stop being such a silly little twit and learn how to use those two little sticks in front of you like a normal person."

Suddenly her patients snapped and she found herself shouting to the air, "Will you shut up already!"

Three shocked faces stared back at her with mouths hanging open.

"Oh no, not you mom! I was yelling at, uh, the fly. It was…buzzing in my ear again…" Her face heated up for what seemed like the twentieth time that day as she threw out the lame excuse. _'God this can't get any worse…'_

"So I'm a buzzing fly now, am I?"

Knowing she was only asking for trouble if she stayed any longer, Kagome cleared her throat and managed to say, "Excuse me please, I think I need to take a walk outside. My head hurts."

"Oh…alright honey," her mother said with her worried look returning.

Kagome scooted her chair back from the table and made to stand up.

And couldn't move.

Two hands on her shoulders kept her in place as everyone looked at her, expecting her to leave.

"Well then…I guess I'll go now," she said trying in vain to stand and walk away from this humiliation.

Souta gave her a funny look. "You already said that, sis."

"So I did…"

She tried twisting sharply to the side to escape his hands and suddenly found herself sprawled on the floor as he abruptly let go. _'Won't someone please just shoot me?'_

Everyone at the table jumped up as she seemingly dumped herself on the floor. "Oh honey, are you okay?" her mother asked fretfully.

Jumping up and all but running out of the room to the outside door she called out "I'm fine, I'm fine!" Then they heard the open and shut of the door as she let herself out to the yard. Her mother, brother and grandfather all looked to each other in confusion at her odd behavior. Then her grandpa promptly summed it up with an unconcerned, "Hmph, young people. They get stranger every day."

* * *

Kagome managed to make it all the way to the back of the yard, to where the old dry well was boarded up inside a little hut, before she exploded.

"Just what the _hell_ did you think you were doing back there.!"

"I was just having some fun; jeez don't get your hair in a twist."

"D…don't get my…are you serious?" she spluttered in disbelief. "You just humiliated me in front of my whole family! Of course I'm going to get my hair in a twist!"

"It's just your family, it's not like it's the end of the world. Relax already."

"Of all the idiotic- of course it's not the end of the world! But I have to go back in there and explain why I've suddenly started acting like a complete lunatic."

"Feh, you'd think they'd be used to _that_."

Not for the fist time Kagome really wished she could see her annoying companion, if only to find his neck and strangle him. '_How is it possible to get under someone's skin so quickly? Come on girl, don't let him get to you like this, it'll only encourage him.'_ It was a nice thought. Of course his next comment blew all thoughts of remaining calm right out the window.

"You really should learn to get a sense of humor you know."

"I do have a sense of humor you bastard!" she stormed. "There's just nothing funny about laughing at the expense of others. I wouldn't do it to you and no one in my family would do it either. It's cruel and heartless when there's nothing the other person can do to defend them self."

"Yeah especially when that some one is you I suppose."

"That goes for anyone you big jerk. And I thought you were supposed to protect me, not throw me on the floor."

"First of all, wench, you threw _yourself_, I just let go. And second, I guard you from things that would hurt you and you didn't hurt yourself, now did you"

"Well no…"

"See?" Inuyasha watched as she rolled her eyes in disbelief at his logic and sighed. He couldn't suppress a small grin at her expression. This girl was just so much fun to tease. He was actually starting to like arguing with her, however strange that seemed.

"I still think you acted like a jerk." She paused for a second. "You know, I _was _going to apologize for yelling at you earlier." Her stomach chose this moment to give a loud gurgle. "After I had dinner," she continued pointedly.

Inuyasha stopped at that. _'She was going to apologize to me?'_ "Oh," was all he managed to get out before they both heard someone calling her name from the other side of the house.

Kagome quickly turned and opened the door to the well house, stepping inside before silently shutting it behind her. "I still can't face them yet." She said in way of explanation.

"Whatever."

Kagome rolled her eyes again. Didn't he have any other way to answer? As she turned around to ask him as much, she stopped dead when she saw she wasn't alone. "Aah!" she squeaked in surprise.

The boy sitting on the well looked up and said in a somewhat annoyed voice, "What's your problem, wench?"

For a second her heart skipped a beat before she replied cautiously, "Inu…yasha?"

* * *

AN- Hope you liked!

I apologize for any mistakes, as it is three in the morning and I'm all blurry eyed from staring at the screen.

Thanks for reading! Bye for now.


	6. A Visual Fluke

Disclaimer-He's mine! All mine!

_Actual_ Disclaimer- I do not own Inuyasha. Disregard crazy statement above.

AN- Man, you guys flatter me so much! Thank you! And if you haven't noticed, it does wonders for my creative flow… ;-)

A Visual Fluke

"What do you want already?" The young man sitting on the well snapped at her with a frown on his handsome face. A face, Kagome found, she could see quite clearly, despite the lack of proper lighting in the room. "Why are you looking at me…like…that…?" Understanding seeped into his features, as he abruptly realized that she wasn't just looking towards him; she was actually looking _at_ him. "No way," he said in faint denial, his back going ram-rod straight. "There's just no way."

Kagome managed to push herself away from the door and walk down the first couple steps towards Inuyasha. At his softly spoken words she stopped and said just as softly. "Yes way."

Inuyasha seemed frozen to his seat as she resumed taking the steps down to the dirt floor on the bottom. When she was only a couple feet away from him she stopped once more and tilted her head to the side with a quizzical expression on her face. He noticed her gaze had shifted slightly upward and could guess her question before it even formed on her lips.

"Um, Inuyasha?"

"Yeah," came the gruff reply.

"Are those…dog ears on you head?"

"…Yeah, what of it?"

Kagome quickly snapped her focus to his eyes and even as she took in their lovely shade of golden yellow, she saw in them a look of warning. "Oh, nothing, nothing. I was just checking." Her gaze once again floated up to his ears, and she had the almost irresistible urge to stroke them. But of course she wouldn't, because it would be rude.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Okay, so maybe she didn't care if it was rude or not. Her hands reached up to give them a little tug, but were sorely disappointed to find they went right through them without even a pause. _'Aw. Too bad…'_ Apparently her hand weren't the only one's that were disappointed…

"Stupid girl, you can't touch me if I don't want you to." Inuyasha said this as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "So keep you grubby hands to yourself, alright."

Ignoring the insults for once, Kagome brightened momentarily at what he had (basically) said. "So I could touch you?"

Inuyasha gave her a look as if to say, 'didn't you just here me you idiot?' and said, "Are you deaf or something? I just said you couldn't."

Kagome shook her head with a tiny smile tugging at her mouth. "Nuh-uh, you said I couldn't touch you if you didn't _want _me to. Which means I could if you let me, isn't that right?"

Thinking back to what he had said, Inuyasha came to the conclusion that, yes, he had implied that would be the case. _'Dammit! Why does she have to act so smart all of a sudden?'_ Instead of admitting to her she was correct though, he simply shrugged and told her, "No, that's not what it means. What it means is, you read too much into things and should keep your hands to yourself next time. And that's all."

Not believing a word of it, but feeling a little dejected all the same, Kagome answered with her own shrug. "Fine, fine, I was just wondering." Pause. "So…I take it I'm the only one to see you in a while. Or am I reading too much into that also?" she inquired teasingly.

Instead of rising to her bait, Inuyasha took on a serious expression as her looked at her. What was it about this girl that was so special? Why was it she was able to do things no one had done for over five hundred years? He had lied when he said he didn't know how many other people he had been Guardian to. It had been a lot. And not one of them had ever given any indication they knew he was even nearby, much less keeping them safe while randomly throwing insults to their backs. _'Is it because she looks so much like…'_ No. He wouldn't even go there. It was just a stupid coincidence, that was all.

Kagome was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable under his scrutiny. _'Why is he staring at me like that? Well two can play this gamet.' _With that thought Kagome proceeded to stare back at him with the same unwavering look. Letting her eyes wander a bit, she took in his odd clothing, noting (with some pride at remembering her history correctly) that they were from the feudal era and very authentic looking. _'Surely they aren't real though?'_ She moved onto his hands, taking in the sharp looking claws and calloused fingers that looked as though they were accustomed to hard work. Dropping her gaze to the floor she saw that his feet were bare and also well calloused as if they were used to rough treatment without shoes. She then raised her eyes to his face once more and studied that. She observed with inward approval of how well his silver-white hair framed his boyishly good-looking features. Dark eyebrows set off his amber eyes perfectly against his lightly tanned skin, and when he opened his mouth, she could detect tiny pointed fangs there. Suddenly figuring out that Inuyasha had opened his mouth because he was saying something to her, she ripped her eyes from his mouth and saw he was looking at her with a somewhat annoyed expression.

"Er, I'm sorry. What were you saying Inuyasha?" she asked, feeling a slight flush creep up her neck as she realized she had been staring at him for quite some time now.

He gave her an exasperated look and repeated what he said. "I said, if you're done ogling me, you should probably go inside before you family sends out a search party for you. It's after dark in case you hadn't noticed."

Kagome looked around to a window and saw that it was, in fact, after sundown and the light was quickly fading from the well room. Her embarrassment at his statement swiftly faded away as she understood he was probably right. For once. "I guess I should go back inside." Her stomach gave another mighty growl as if in agreement. "For your sake, their better be some gyoza left."

"Oh, I'm so scared."

She gave an emphatic nod of her head. "As you should be. Come on let's go." She walked over to the steps and stopped half way there to turn around and say something else. Whatever she was about to say died on her lips when she saw she was once again alone in the room.

"What's wrong now?" she heard from right in front of her.

"Ee! Don't do that! Or at least warn me before hand," she said putting her hand over her chest in an attempt to slow her racing heart. She wished he would quit scaring her like that!

"What are you _talking_ about?"

Kagome waved her hand vaguely. "That disappearing, let's stand right beside Kagome and scare the living bejeezus out of her, thing."

A pause. "You can't see me any more?"

Frowning and not understanding she replied, "Uh, no. …You mean you can't control it?"

"No. I didn't do anything to make you see me the first time, you just did. Huh…" And suddenly he was back again, sitting on the well rim with a contemplative look on his face.

A small noise from Kagome made him look up. Obviously, from her expression, she could see him again. Interesting… Kagome seemed to catch on as well as she said, "Stand up again."

He did so. Poof. No more Inuyasha. And poof, back again when he sat once more.

"Weird," she mused to herself. "Try standing up and then just touching the well."

Again, he complied and stood up. And was gone from sight and then back again with his hand outstretched to touch the well. Kagome told him as much. Looking down at the well his hand was resting on, Inuyasha wondered what magic could be at work to make him visible at the mere touch of it. _There's something strange about this well. And oddly familiar…'_ He was drawn from his thoughts by Kagome's presence next to him.

She looked up into his face with a curious expression. "How is it doing this?"

Feeling a little self conscious at her closeness, Inuyasha snatched his hand back from the wood and was relieved to see her blink in confusion to his disappearing act. "How should I know, wench?" he said brusquely. His words had the desired effect as she took a step back and set her hands upon her hips with a peeved look.

"You don't have to get all defensive. It was just a question."

"Feh, whatever."

Deciding whatever odd moment they had had in here was over, Kagome turned to go up the stairs for a second time. When she was half way up, she asked without turning around, "Are you coming?"

Wondering how she had known he was still at the bottom of the stairs watching her walk away, he replied, "Yeah, I'm coming." With one last glance at the old well, Inuyasha followed her out the door and into the night.

* * *

AN- No real cliffy tonight. You all got off lucky.

Bye for now.


	7. Sweet Dreams

Disclaimer- I (do not) own Inuyasha.

AN- I'm having so much fun writing this Fic! Due in most part to all the positive support I've received. It's a happy little loop we are in. I write because you are happy; you are happy because I write. Hey if it isn't broken, don't fix it. Also, I'm starting this chapter a little earlier than I usually do, so hopefully it will be somewhat longer than my norm. But don't hold me to this. :-)

Sweet Dreams

Kagome approached her house slowly, noticing someone (probably her mother) had left a light on outside for her to see by. _'How long were we in there? It didn't seem like very long, but it's almost completely dark out now.' _She tried to think of how late it had been when she rushed out into the yard. _'Well the sun was still up, but only a short way from the horizon, so maybe an hour? _It still seemed like that was an awful long time to have been out supposedly walking off a headache, and Kagome wondered how she was going to answer the questions she would surely receive from her mother.

She paused just before opening the door, then gave a little shrug and figured she would just try to be as evasive as possible. Once inside, Kagome aimed herself straight for the kitchen, per not so subtle request of her stomach. Her mother was already there, washing up the last of the dishes. Seeing her daughter walk in she smiled and gestured to the fridge with one soapy hand.

"I saved you some dinner sweetheart, though it's probably cold by now. Nearly had my fingers bitten off trying to keep them from your brother and grandfather."

Kagome flashed her mom a brilliant smile as she opened the refrigerator door. "Thanks mom, I really appreciate it."

"Not a problem. What kind of mother would I be if I let my daughter miss her favorite dinner?" There was a small comfortable silence as Mrs. Higurashi finished the dishes and set them to dry in the sink while Kagome heated up her food in the microwave. "So, how is your head?"

"Oh, it's, um, much better thank you. I guess I just need some fresh air."

"Yes, you were acting a little strange tonight." Her mother looked towards her and tilted her head to the side the same way Inuyasha had seen her daughter do earlier. "Are you sure you're okay, Kagome? You were gone for quite some time. I was starting to worry"

Looking down at the ground and hating for having to lie to her mother, she said, "Sorry, mom. I guess it's just been a long week, you know. The teachers are really laying it on us with finals coming up and all."

Her mother nodded her head understandingly. "Yes, I suppose you're right. And you were up rather late last night weren't you?" Kagome looked a little sheepish at that. Did everyone in the house know she had been up until way past two in the morning, finishing her school work? "I want you to go to bed early tonight, okay."

"Aw but, mom-"

"No buts Kagome. You need your sleep, you're a growing girl."

"But it's the weekend!"

Her only answer was a look that said, 'what did I just say?'

"Oh alright…"

"Good girl, now eat your dinner and then go upstairs so you can work on those school assignments I know you probably haven't even begun yet."

"I've started them!"

"Oh you have? Well good for you sweetie. It's nice to see you getting an early start for once."

"Er, right," Kagome agreed, with a little twinge of guilt. It wasn't _really_ a lie. She had started it. She just hadn't gotten very far was all… A light snicker from her left indicated Inuyasha was listening to her and knew _exactly_ how much she had actually gotten done.

Ding!

Kagome reached into the microwave to get her plate and said to her mother, "I think I'll just eat in my room. I can work and eat at the same time." Then she hurried out of the kitchen before Inuyasha could cause trouble. Her mother called after her. "Remember, no staying up late tonight."

"K mom!" was the response, slightly muffled over the pounding of feet up the stairs.

* * *

Safely up in her room, plate and chopsticks in hand, Kagome sat down her desk and picked up a dumpling to eat. She paused momentarily. "Not going to make me drop it this time are you?"

"Course not, what fun is that if there's no one to see you?"

Rolling her eyes at that, she proceeded to take a big bite out of the gyoza, happily munching on half of it at once. "Mmm." She closed her eyes in bliss as her mother's wonderfully tasty cooking invaded her mouth and empty stomach. She popped the rest in her mouth and chewing away merrily, grabbed another dumping off the plate in one quick motion.

"Jeez, slow down. You'll give yourself a stomach ache."

Kagome just grinned and took another bite. "It's worth it," she said between chewing.

"Oh gross! Close your mouth, will you?"

Grinning evilly, Kagome quickly turned her head and stuck out her tongue at him. Full mouth and all.

"Lovely," was the dry response.

Swallowing, Kagome chuckled and said, "I know."

"Aren't you supposed to be doing you school stuff while you eat?"

"Actually, I just said that to get out of there before you decided to embarrass me again."

"That hurts me Kagome, really it does," Inuyasha said in a mock hurt tone. Instead of coming back with a witty retort as he expected though, Kagome set down the bite of rice she had just picked up and looked towards him. "What?" he asked, wondering what he had done this time.

Kagome gave a little half-smile and shook her head before picking up her chopsticks again. "Nothing, I just never heard you use my name before." She resumed eating as if nothing had happened, giving him time to think back and realize she was right. _'So what, it's not that big a deal.'_

"Feh, whatever."

Kagome just smiled again. "I thought you might say that."

"Hmph."

Kagome finished off the rest of her meal in silence. When she was done, she leaned back in her chair with a contented sigh, hands on her noticeably bulgier stomach. "So good…"

"I cannot believe you ate all that."

"Me either," she stated with her eyes closed. "I was hungry though."

"Well don't say I didn't warn you if your belly starts hurting later."

"Duly noted, Inuyasha." Standing up, she grabbed her plate and went back down to the kitchen to wash it in the sink. As she scrubbed away, she could hear the faint sounds of the TV in the living room and soft voices from her mother and grandfather. A sense of complete happiness crept up on her as she listened to the jumbled noises and thought warmly of her family. The smile on her face must have seemed odd as Inuyasha asked, "Oi, what are you so happy about?"

Remembering to keep her voice low, Kagome just said simply, "Nothing…and everything."

"What is _that _supposed to mean?"

She just shook her head as she finished rinsing her plate and chopsticks and laid them to dry next to the others. "It doesn't mean anything. I'm just happy, that's all."

Inuyasha followed her as she made her way back upstairs to her room, still feeling confused. "Yeah okay, but why?" He stepped though her door as she shut it and tuned to face her as she gave an exasperated sigh.

"I don't know. Haven't you ever just felt happy for no reason before?"

"No."

Taken aback by his simple answer, any comment she might have been ready to make disappeared in an unexpected wave of sadness. Her feeling of happiness faded away as she realized he wasn't trying to tease her, he was just stating a fact. _'He's never been happy for no reason? Has he ever been happy at all I wonder?'_

Mistaking the girl's silence for something else, Inuyasha snapped angrily, "Don't go feeling all sorry for me just because I don't go around grinning like an idiot for no reason, okay? I don't need your pity."

Kagome just blinked and said quietly, "I don't feel sorry for you Inuyasha. I'm just sad, is all."

"Huh? But you just said you were happy." He quickly lost his anger at her sudden shift in mood and wondered, not for the first time, how she could move from one emotion to the other so quickly. He observed as she waved her hand in the air as if dismissing his comment.

"I know, I was, but…" She shook her head. "Never mind." And she was back to being her cheerful self once more. "I'm going to work on my report now, so please be quiet would you? I need to concentrate if I'm going to finish this before dawn." It must have been the 'please', because Inuyasha stayed silent as she went to her desk and picked up a pencil to start writing. As she set to work on her paper, Inuyasha was lost in his own thoughts, more than happy for the break in conversation so he could muse on the day's events. Thought after thought wound its way around his head, each one even more confusing than the last. Unanswered questions floated around right after them. How? How was this possible? He'd known her for less than a month and already she had seen him, heard him and bickered with him. The last at several different times actually. And on one heart stopping occasion, she had actually tried to touch him! He wasn't really sure _how _he felt about that one. On one hand, the girl annoyed him and he new if he wasn't bound to her as he was now, he would get as far away from her as possible. On the other hand, the girl intrigued him (for various reasons he didn't want to sort through right now) and for half a second back at the well, he had entertained the idea of letting her go ahead and touch him as she had wanted to…Which was completely out of the question. Right?

Inuyasha gave a rough shake of his head, trying uselessly to expel all the things bouncing around in his mind. Why was this girl torturing him like this? Couldn't she tell that her mere presence was driving him batty? _'Why did I have to get stuck with **her**?'_ he thought for the thousandth time since he first laid eyes on the carefree brunette in front of him. _'But of course she wouldn't notice. She's so completely ignorant of everything around her. Feh, stupid girl…' _But then there was the problem yet again. She wasn't ignorant, or stupid. She was… well, he couldn't think of anything to suitably describe her at the moment. At least not anything he wanted to acknowledge.

Growing tired of waiting for Kagome to finish writing her homework, Inuyasha began to pace back and forth as he watched her chew on the bottom of her pencil with a look of concentration, as if she were trying to remember something.

"Oi-"

"Shhh!" A hand came up and waved him away in irritation, effectively silencing whatever he was about to say. _'Fine wench, see if I ever talk to **you** again'. _He continued his pacing, trying to use her as a distraction from all his bothersome inward feelings. It didn't really work though, seeing as she was the basic cause for said feelings. Still, watching her had become almost an enjoyable pastime over the last couple weeks. Right now she was trying to remember something that was right at the front of her head. Any second now, she would bite her lower lip as she came close to figuring out what it was… Ah, there she went. And now she would remember what it was and…

"Ah-ha," came the triumphant murmur from the desk, as (he had predicted) she suddenly remembered whatever had been alluding her. She went back to writing rapidly on the paper in front of her, pausing occasionally to scratch something out and rewrite it.

'_So predictable…'_ Why did that feel like a good thing though? _'Dammit, listen to me acting like I know her so well. I've been with her, what, a little over two week? Since when does that make me an expert on anyone?' _But he kept coming back to the same conclusion. She wasn'tjust anyone. Even _his_ overly objective brain could see that. No matter how hard he tried not to.

* * *

An hour and a half later, Kagome slumped back in her chair with a sigh of satisfaction. It was finally done. Granted it was only a rough draft and would need to be rewritten, but this was the hard part and she was glad to be done with it. "Aaah, my hands hurt." She massaged them in an attempt to release some of the cramping. Looking up at the clock, she found that two hours had passed since she had started and gave herself a mental pat on the back for keeping at it so long without spacing out once. The she remembered Inuyasha and how she had somewhat rudely cut him off earlier.

"Hey, Inuyasha?"

Silence.

"Um, thanks for keeping quiet for me. It helped and look! I'm all done now, so if you wanted to say anything, well, sorry for cutting you off earlier, but if I stop what I'm doing while in the middle, I usually end up not getting it done…" Kagome saw she was staring to babble and trailed off, waiting for him to say something, or to yell at her for taking so long.

Silence.

"…Inuyasha?" She waited again for what seemed like a small eternity for him to reply. She wished he would say _something_. She glanced around the room futilely, knowing she wouldn't be able to see him even if he _was_ there. A thought occurred to her that maybe he had left and she was all alone again and talking to herself once more. For some reason, she was saddened by this thought. _'What am I thinking? I wouldn't miss him if he left. All he does is argue and frustrate me when he **is** speaking to me. Why would I miss that?'_ Yet she couldn't shake the feeling that she _would_, in fact, miss him. How strange…

Once more she tried to get him to speak, with only the tiniest bit of desperation noticeable in her light-hearted words. "Hello, if any irritable, loud mouthed, dog-eared bullies are nearby, say so now or forever hold your peace."

A short (and for Kagome, anxious) pause and then, "I'm sorry wench, where you saying something?"

Kagome let out a breath she had unconsciously been holding and tried not to let the relief show in her voice. "Yeah, I only called you, like, three times already. Are you sure those things on the top of your head work?"

"These _things_ work just fine, thank you. I just not your pet, so don't expect me to come running whenever you call."

"So you did leave then?"

"Uh, well…no."

"Oh, so you were just ignoring me then?"

"Yeah, well, you were ignoring me earlier!"

"I wasn't ignoring you; I was trying to do my homework!"

"Oh, no wonder I was so confused…"

Speechlessness.

"You…you…" Kagome floundered for a suitable name to call him.

"Jerk?" Inuyasha suggested.

"Yes!"

"Keep it down Kagome, you're so loud sometimes."

"_I'm_ loud!"

"Exactly what I just said, thank you for reiterating it so perfectly."

Forgetting her momentary lapse in sanity where she was almost upset at the thought of him being gone, Kagome crossed her arms over her stomach and smirked in Inuyasha general direction. "Big word for such a little man."

"Who are you calling little?"

"Why, the little man talking to me across the room of course," she replied innocently, enjoying the fact that he was the one at a loss for words for once. _'Serves him right to get teased, making me worry like that.' _

"Take that back, wench."

Kagome put on a little frown of confusion. "Take what back?"

"What you said! You called me little!"

Still frowning, she shook her head and said, "I don't remember saying that."

"What are you talking about? You just said it."

Kagome put a finger to her chin and pretended to think about that. "No…no I'm pretty sure I didn't say that. You must be hearing things."

Stunned silence.

Suppressing her laughter took all the will power she could muster. _'I should stop…but this is too much fun!'_

"Maybe you need a break Inuyasha. You must be working to hard, you now, keeping watch over me and all."

"Wha…you…but…" was the stutter response.

Finally slipping from her concerned innocence routine, Kagome giggled at his attempts at a come back. And at his further indignant sputtering, she let out her laugher completely. In between chuckles all she could manage was, "Wish…I could…see…your face…priceless!"

"Glad to see I could amuse you wench," came the huffy response. "Isn't it time for you to go to bed?"

Still giggling a little, she answered," Yes _mom_."

Kagome gathered together her pajamas and was making her way to the door when Inuyasha stopped her.

"Where are you going? Your bed is that way, dummy."

"I'm going to take a bath, _dummy_, and I'll thank you not to follow me."

"Like I'd want to anyways," he replied curtly.

"Good." And with that she walked out the door.

A second later Inuyasha followed her. Placing himself guard outside the bathroom door he dropped himself down into his favorite cross-legged sitting position. A minute later he heard running water filling up the tub and then the sound of Kagome brushing her teeth at the sink. A few more minutes and then the running water stopped. Two small splashes and then a contented sigh floated out to him from under the door. He gave her a few minutes to relax before speaking.

"Oi, Kagome?" he asked, grinning slightly at her undignified squeak and the sound of splashing water as he assumed she tried to cover herself, thinking he had come in the room. "Don't worry. I'm outside the door, stupid."

He grinned again as she hissed at him, "Stop scaring me like that!" splashing water softly, in what he imagined was her fist hitting the water. _'Probably pretending it's me.'_

"Sorry," he said, not sounding the least bit.

"Well, what do you want?"

"I was just wondering, why is it you got so upset when I didn't answer you back in your room?"

The small splashing sounds ceased completely. "No reason."

"Really? Cause you seemed a little worried for a minute…but maybe that was just me?"

"It was you," came the quick response. "I was just cheesed off cause you were ignoring me. That's all. Who's reading into things too much now?"

"Cheesed…off…?" If Kagome didn't know better she would think he was laughing at her.

A soft chuckle came to her ears. Okay, so maybe she _didn't_ know better. "Oh, shut up…" she grumbled under her breath. The laughter only increased. "Jerk…" And when his laugh only increased a little more she took a deep breath and ducked her head under the water to get away from his mocking amusement at her choice of phrases. While she was submerged she roughly washed her hair, wondering for what had to be the millionth time why she was putting up with this abuse. And for the million and first time, she told herself she had no real choice in the matter. Giving her hair one final scrub to rinse out the last of the shampoo, she raised her head from the water in time to hear Inuyasha's voice mid-sentence.

"-ou don't say something right this second, I'm coming in there! Kagome?"

"No, no don't come in!" shesqueaked hurriedly.

A sigh of relief, and then, "What the hell is your problem? I've been calling you for five minutes now!"

"Wow, really? I didn't think I could hold my breath that long."

"Well, maybe it wasn't _exactly _five minutes…"

"I was just washing my hair, jeez, relax would you?"

"Just hurry up okay?"

"Alright, alright." Pause. "Don't get your hair in a twist."

"Oh, ha-ha."

Kagome quickly finished scrubbing up and got out of the bath, lest Inuyasha decided to change his mind and come in to drag her out anyways. She toweled off and got changed in record time, with the threat of an angry dog-eared boy ready to come in at any minutes hanging over her head. _'I refused to be bullied in the future, but as for now…well I'm tired anyways.' _With out further ado and no warning, Kagome opened the bathroom and was rewarded with a small, surprised 'oof' as said dog-eared boy fell to the ground. Holding in a little giggle, Kagome stepped around the prone Inuyasha as best she could, considering she couldn't see him. She must have managed to avoid him though, as she received no complaint of having treaded on him.

"Oops, sorry." Giggle. "I didn't see you there."

"Very funny. You're just on a roll tonight aren't you?"

"Guess so," she said, retreating to her room.

Joining her, Inuyasha found Kagome sitting on her mattress combing through her wet locks, trying to get the tangles out. "Good luck with that rat's nest," he commented sourly, still miffed at being caught off guard and dumped on the floor.

"I know," she agreed, to his surprise. "But if someone hadn't been hurrying me so much, I could have put come conditioner in." That part not being so surprising.

"Whatever. Don't blame you bad hair on me."

Kagome just gave a little shrug at that and continued her battle to work out the knots in silence. After a couple minutes, Kagome put her comb down with a tired sigh; satisfied her hair no longer looked as though small rodents had been living in it. Getting up to turn the light off, Kagome addressed her companion. "Time for bed Inuyasha. Will you be, uh, staying here with me?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, alright." A small pause. "Well good night then." And then the lights went out. There was a creak of bedsprings in the dark and it was quiet for several minutes.

"Inuyasha?"

"Yeah, what?" This from the floor next to her bed.

"Would you tell me about yourself?"

A long pause at that.

"No."

"…Oh, alright." This sounding slightly disappointed.

Several more minutes went by. Then…

"Inuyasha?"

"What?"

"…Do I annoy you?"

A short pause here

"What the hell kind of question is that!"

"Never mind, forget I asked. I already know the answer anyways." This one edged with… was that sadness?

A couple more minutes ticked away.

"No, you don't annoy me…much"

He could almost hear the smile in her voice when she said," Thanks, you don't really annoy me either. For what it's worth."

"Feh, like I care anyways."

"No, I didn't think you would, but there it is anyways."

"Whatever."

Time slipped by steadily and Inuyasha was beginning to think she had finally fallen asleep when…

"Inuyasha?"

"Oh, for love of- What now!"

"Nothing, just making sure you're still there."

"Of all the idiotic…go to sleep already!"

"Okay, okay." She said with a small laugh. "Good night, Inuyasha."

A long pause this time.

"…Good night, Kagome."

And with that, Kagome finally fell asleep.

* * *

AN- Okay, hope you guys like this one. I haven't quite worked up to fluff yet, but this one was at least a little wooly. Hopefully not the itchy kind.

Thanks for reading.

Bye for now.


	8. In the Dark

Disclaimer- I do not own Inuyasha.

What? It's true. I don't.

AN- There are obscure references at the beginning, but I trust you all can figure out which person I am referring to.

Drum roll please…

In the Dark

Inuyasha listened as Kagome's breathing slowed and evened out into the tell-tale sounds of deep sleep. He waited a little longer, just to make certain she wouldn't wake again, and then stood up. Looking down at the sleeping girl, he sat himself on the edge of her bed and studied her peaceful face, just as he had done every other night since he 'found' her.

He knew that this ritual would be considered strange, rude, and _very_ personally invasive to most people. Of course, when you spent all of your waking day (which was basically all of it) watching one person for months and even years on end, watching them while they slept didn't really seem all that unusual. Inuyasha studied her face, going over the already familiar features, letting his thought wander wherever they wanted for the moment. Her smooth, pale skin glowed in the soft moonlight flowing in through the curtains. His fingers practically itched for wanting to touch it, though he didn't for fear of waking her up. His eyes slowly traveled over each part of her face, taking their time, memorizing every small detail from her high forehead, mostly cover with thick, unruly (and still somewhat damp) bangs, to her dark lashes as they rested against the tops of her cheeks. He knew if she opened her eyes, he would see the loveliest shade of coffee brown. Warm and kind. And at this he paused.

It was true; Kagome did look so much like _her_ that it almost hurt to look at her sometimes. Her appearance was almost an exact duplicate. It was downright eerie. _Her_ eyes had been warm and kind too. Before… And his gaze traveled downward past her delicate looking nose to her mouth. And that was where he decided the biggest difference between them lay. Sure they looked the same, identical rosebud mouths. So soft looking… But Kagome had such a light hearted personality, it was hard for her to keep the smiles away when she was in a good mood. As for _her_… well, he was hard pressed to remember more than two occasions where she had cracked more than the tiniest of grins. And he wasn't sure he had _ever _heard her laugh. Not real, honest to goodness, that-was-so-funny laughter anyways.

Kagome gave a little twitch as she dreamed about whatever it was she dreamed of at night. For the hundredth time, Inuyasha wished he could see what she did. She always looked so happy… Even now he could see her lips turn up ever so slightly in the corners. Having no need of sleep himself, Inuyasha amused himself by throwing out ideas as to what she could be dreaming about. _'Let's see… Right now she's dreaming of going to school and realizing she's forgotten all of her homework at home. No wait, she realizes she never even did it and now she has to do twice as much as punishment.' _That seemed like something that would definitely be on the girls mind, but…_ 'Nah, that wouldn't make her smile like that. I know, right now she's dreaming that she can see and feel me and is merrily bashing my head into the ground while calling me a big jerk.'_ He gave a little inward chuckle. Now _that_ sounded like something that would make her smile.

Even as he was thinking of this rather unpleasant scene, he heard Kagome mutter something in her sleep. _'What was that?'_

As if hearing his silent question, Kagome muttered again in her sleep, a fraction louder than last time. "…nu…yash…a…"

"Wha-!" he got out, before hurriedly clamping his mouth shut. She really _was_ dreaming of him?

Another twitch, then, "...emme…touch em…won't…pull hard...promise…"

Ahh. His ears. That made sense too. Leaning in close to her ear, he whispered, "No way wench, keep your hands to yourself."

He leaned back to see her face again and was rewarded with a tiny frown and, "...or such…meany…sha…"

Grinning wickedly, he whispered into her ear once more. "Can't you control yourself around me, or do I need to keep reminding you every five minutes to stop trying to touch me?"

"..sh'up…" Something so faint even his sensitive ears couldn't make out and then, "…big jerk…"

Figuring he had done enough messing with her head for one night, he settled back on the mattress and watched her expression smooth out once more into peacefulness. He stored away his power to antagonize her even in sleep for later use and contented himself to wait for morning so he could do it in person.

* * *

Morning light streamed in through the window and came to rest on the sleeping Kagome's head. This, however, was not the reason she was woken up. The loudly declared, "Come on Kagome, get your ass out of bed already!" was. Dragging her eyelids open and glancing at the clock on her nightstand, she saw it was just past seven thirty in the _way_ too early morning.

"Uh-uh, no. Need more sleep…" And with that, she flopped her pillow over her head and settle back down to sleep. The pillow was quickly snatched away and tossed on the floor. She grabbed her blanket edge and up it went over her head too, seconds later, joining her pillow on the floor. Kagome sat up with irritation printed on her sleepy face. "You know, you're being a real pain. Saturdays are for sleeping in. It's barely past sunrise!"

"So, I'm bored."

Growling, Kagome picked her pillow up off the floor and threw it towards him. He gave a laugh as it hit the wall. "Not even close."

She gave a sigh, understanding he wasn't going to let her go back to sleep. "You better not make a habit of this," she grumbled, glad she had gone to bed early for once.

He let that slide and instead changed the subject. "You talk in your sleep you know."

"No I don't," Kagome said indignantly, hoping he was just teasing again and she hadn't said anything embarrassing.

"Yup, you sure do." Here he changed his voice to a high pitched imitation of a girl. "Oh, Inuyasha let me touch your ears!"

Blushing furiously, Kagome crossed her arms over her stomach. "I don't sound like that! And I did not say that."

"Yes you did."

"Did not!"

"Did so."

"Oh, just be quiet!"

Now that she concentrated, she could just remember dreaming about something along the lines of wanting to tug on his ears and him telling her to quite trying to touch him all the time. This made her blush even more, until she was beginning to resemble a tomato.

"Blush any more and your head will explode."

"Get out Inuyasha," she said, pointing to the door

"Hey don't get all upset, I was just playing."

"Out!"

"You can't just order me around wench!"

"Taking a deep breath, Kagome said very slowly, "Unless you would prefer I walk around in my pajamas all day, I need to get dressed, and for me to get dressed, you need to leave. Unless of course you _wanted_ to stay and eyeball me while I change…"

"Fine, fine go ahead," was the reply from the hallway behind her bedroom door. Was it her imagination, or did he sound a little flustered as he said that?

"Thank you."

Kagome stood up and stretched out her still sleeping muscles, then walked over to her dresser to pick out something to wear. Settling on her favorite dark blue skirt and a white shirt with a picture of a smiling cat on it, she quickly got dressed and brushed out her hair. Heading to the door she said, "Okay, Inuyasha I'm dressed. And you better not have decided to take a peek at me while…"

Kagome's sentence trailed off as she opened the door and found her mother standing right outside with a pile of her clean clothes in one hand and the other poised to open her door.

"Uh…"

Raising one eyebrow, her mother inquired in a very interested tone, "And just who is this Inuyasha, young lady?"

* * *

AN- heh heh 


	9. Dubious Explanations

Disclaimer- Rumiko Takahashi owns Inuyasha. Thymebug owns Inuyasha merchandise. See the difference?

AN- My apologies if this chapter turns out craptastical, I'm somewhat (very) sick at the moment. One would wonder why I don't drag my butt away from the computer and go to sleep. Ah, the mysteries of life…

Oh, and don't lean in too close, I'm contagious…

Dubious Explanations

Kagome's mind raced a mile a minute. What was she going to say? Had her mother only caught Inuyasha's name or everything she said just now? Should she lie? Tell the truth? Would her mom believe her if she did tell the truth?

'_What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?'_

"Um…"

She couldn't think! Say something! Anything! Don't just sand there looking guilty, she's going to think the worst. Oh, why wasn't her brain working fast enough? Stupid Inuyasha getting her up so early. She blamed _him_ for this; he could have at least warned her that her mother was coming.

"I uh…"

Was that laughter she heard? Why, that little…! He was laughing at her! Again! _'He **would** find this funny…'_

Her mother, meanwhile, was waiting patiently for Kagome to continue.

"Sorry mom. I, uh, gotta go!" And with that hurried exclamation, she darted past her mom and hurtled down the stairs at breakneck speed before she could get a response.

"Wait! Kagome!" The only reply though, was the bang of the front door. _'What was that all about?'_ Shrugging her shoulders, Mrs. Higurashi went back to what she was doing, trusting her daughter enough to tell her when she was ready. _'I wonder why she was talking to herself. And what could be so important that she'd be up before ten on a Saturday?' _At first she had thought Kagome had someone in her room she was speaking to, but as she put away her daughter's clothes and straightened the bed (Now why was the pillow all the way across the room?), she saw no signs that anyone else had been there. _'Oh well, at least it wasn't a boy…'_ And with that final thought, Kagome's mother closed the door to the bedroom and went back downstairs to start breakfast.

* * *

Slam!

Giving a little cringe at having slid the door shut so loudly, Kagome stopped to wipe her forehead. "Phew."

"That had to be the most cowardly thing I have ever seen."

"I know…"

"I mean you could have at least made something up."

"I know."

"But to just run away without saying a thing was just-"

"I know! Just be quiet would you?"

"Feh, whatever." Pause. "Coward."

She pushed away from the door she had been leaning on and started off through the yard towards the main shrine. As she walked she let her hand trail along the fence that surrounded the property, taking in the early morning light and trying not to lose her temper again. It wasn't too hard considering what a beautiful day it was turning out to be. Somehow her mood almost always seemed to reflect the weather. If it was sunny and warm out like today, she just couldn't seem to hold onto any bad feelings. Well most of the time anyways. Of course, if she was going to be hanging around Inuyasha much longer, her mood would probably be more reflective of any remarks he might make, rather than the climate. He just had this uncanny ability to rub her exactly the wrong way. Must be all the practice he got over the years, insulting people who couldn't hear him. Sure didn't take him long to figure out what buttons to push on her…

Kagome let out a small sigh. If what he said was true, then he really would be hanging around for a while. A very long while. Might as well try to get along with him sooner rather than later. She paused in her walk, and noticed she had reached the God Tree. Taking a seat on the bench nearby, she gazed fondly up into the branches of the old tree.

"Inuyasha?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you glad you met me?"

A snort. "What kind of dumb question is that?"

She smiled slightly, "An incredibly dumb one. But humor me would you?"

"…I dunno, maybe. Better than talking to myself I guess."

She nodded in agreement. "Yeah, those couldn't have been the most intelligent of conversations."

"Yeah, it- hey, wait a minute! Just what are you trying to say wench!"

Kagome laughed at his outraged question. _'That's for getting me up so darn early and letting my mom catch me by surprise.'_

"Oh, nothing Inuyasha. You know, this is my favorite tree in the world."

Completely thrown by her sudden change of subject, all Inuyasha could manage was a clever, "Huh?"

"I don't know why, but whenever I come by here I feel so peaceful and calm. When I was little, I used to sit underneath its shade and play or eat my lunch or some other little kid thing. It always made me feel so safe. Like it was watching over me." She turned to where she last heard Inuyasha's voice. "Kind of like what you're doing now I guess."

Inuyasha didn't really know what to say to that, so for once, he said nothing.

"Even now, if I feel sad or upset, I'll come out here and just sit and eventually I'll feel a little better."

"You're…upset?" Had he really made her that mad?

Kagome let out another bright laugh when he asked this.

Guess not.

"Sorry, I don't mean to laugh at you. No, I'm not upset. I don't just come here when I feel bad Inuyasha, I come here when I'm happy to. It's almost like a friend… Granted a very quiet one, but still a friend."

"I…see." She was even nuttier than he thought. Friends with a tree? Strange! But even as he thought this, he felt that same familiarity as he had at the well. As if he knew it from somewhere, but couldn't remember where. Or maybe that would be _when… _Shaking his head to dispel the feeling, Inuyasha figured her craziness was just starting to rub off on him.

Kagome blushed and stood abruptly. "I never said it wasn't stupid. It's just…how I feel. Okay?"

"I don't care. Don't expect me to spill my guts to you though."

"Of course not," she said with a tiny quirk of her lips. "But it's going to be hard to talk to you if I don't know the first thing about you."

"Hmph. Maybe you should stop talking then."

"Maybe I should…" With one last look to the God Tree, Kagome started walking again.

"Hey, wait up!"

Continuing her circle around the shrines courtyard, she soon found herself by the well house. Knowing she wasn't really supposed to hang around this place, but wanting to see Inuyasha (and his cute ears!) one more time, she push open the door and stepped inside. She closed the door behind her, shutting out most of the light. Letting her eyes adjust to the light before stepping down the stairs, Kagome took a walk around the small platform that surrounded the well. When she could see once more and was confident she wouldn't trip over her own feet, she went down the steps to sit on the boarded up well. There she sat patently and waited for Inuyasha to join her. She didn't have to wait that long.

As he suddenly appeared next to her, arms crossed, with a bored expression on his face, she flashed him a smile.

"I assume this is what you wanted."

Still grinning, she just gave a little shrug, not saying anything.

"Cat got your tongue?"

She shook her head, looking like she was waiting for him to say something else. _'What does she want? Why doesn't she say something? Oh yeah, I told her to stop talking, that's why. Too bad that doesn't work all the time…'_

"Would you say something already, you're starting to creep me out."

And damned if she didn't just smile wider at that.

"What do you want from me!"

Kagome's smile melted into a look that said 'I think you know' as she raised a single eyebrow at him.

"Stop looking at me like that. I can't read your mind wench. Speak already."

The eyebrow went a little higher.

"Oh fine! What do you want to know?"

She flashed him another brilliant smile. "Thank you, Inuyasha. I just want to know what kind of person you are. You know, what you like and don't like, stuff like that. Although…you could tell me about your ears first…"

'_How did I know she was going to ask me about that?' _

"I'm a hanyou," he stated expressionlessly, as if that would explain everything.

Blink. "A hanyou?"

He took in her blank expression. Okay so maybe it didn't explain everything. "Yeah, you know. A half-demon."

Blink. "You…you're a demon?"

"No, I'm a half-demon, there's a big difference."

"Ah, I see." He was a demon? No, a half-demon, a hanyou. _'What does that mean though?'_ She always thought of demons as the scary monsters in the stories her grandpa told her and Souta when they were little. Buy here was Inuyasha, telling her that he, himself, was one of the scary monsters. Only he didn't seem so scary. At least when he wasn't yelling at her he didn't. Well that explained a few things. Like the fangs, claws and ears.

"Okay then. Tell me more about yourself."

Here Inuyasha scowled and turned to face her, crossing his legs under him. "You're awfully nosey, do you realize that?"

"Uh-huh," she agreed, nodding her head. "Now spill."

The scowl disappeared as he rolled his eyes at her. "You're not going to leave this alone are you?"

"Nope."

"I thought as much. Alright, well…" He paused as if thinking hard. "I like making fun of other people, especially when they can't hear me, and I enjoy torturing young women and humiliating them in front of their families. I don't like people who talk a lot and ask nosey questions that are none of their business. And I also don't like it when my ears are touched by complete strangers. I've been stuck as a Guardian to clumsy, ignorant people for the last five hundred years, though at my count I've only actually been awake for about fifty of them. I hate the fact I have to follow someone around for the rest of my unnaturally long life and that I have no freedom of my own. I have no family, no friends, and no life. That's about all I can think of right now." The whole time he had been speaking he had been staring at the ceiling. Now he looked down to see what her reaction to his words would be. He wasn't disappointed.

Kagome was on her feet now, hands balled into fists at her side. Her expression was livid. "That's not what I asked for and you know it!"

He just shrugged. "I told you _exactly_ what you asked for, I can't help it that it isn't what you wanted to hear."

"You are the most insensitive jerk I have ever met! I try to be nice to you and how do I get repaid? You throw it in my face!"

Now Inuyasha was getting mad. He straightened up, setting his feet on the ground once more, though he remained sitting on the well. "I never asked you to be nice to me in the first place. So don't try to use that, cause it won't work. I don't care if you like me or not, so stop trying so hard to get to know me!"

"Well excuse me! Maybe I just felt sorry because you were on your own, okay?"

"I already told you I don't need your pity!"

"Then you don't have it! This nosey, clumsy, _ignorant _stranger is leaving!" And with that she stomped up the steps and opened the door to the outside, momentarily getting blinded before slamming it as hard as she could.

"Stupid busybody. Needs to mind her own business. She had no right to ask me anything in the first place," he said loudly with conviction. Why did his stomach twist in such a tight knot then, as he remembered the angry tears in her eyes before she turned around? And why had he felt so guilty when she repeated back all the hurtful things he had said about her. He began to feel the familiar tugging in his chest as Kagome got too far away from him. _'Better catch up.'_ Just as he stood up to follow her he heard a sound that sent his heart into his throat.

Kagome screaming.

Forgetting his anger in a wave of terror at the sound, he dashed outside as fast as he could, praying he wasn't too late. When he saw her, he stopped dead at the sight before him.

There was Kagome, standing with her hands half raised as if to ward it away, screaming her head off at the animal before her.

A very fat calico cat.

Huh?

"Buyo! Take it away! Take it away!" she cried, backing away from the tabby as if it were a rabid dog. Looking down at the cat again, he could see it was carrying something in its mouth. Is that what she was so scared of? What was that? Was it…a worm? Yes, it was. A rather big and slimy night crawler to be sure, but a worm all the same. Was she for real?

Sure enough, as the chubby cat started after her, she gave another screech of fear, sending his ears flat against his head at the sound. "Would you stop that already!"

To his utter amazement, relief flooded her face at his voice. "Inuyasha! Please help! Take it away before it touches me. Aaah! Buyo, no!" The cat, Buyo, had reached Kagome's feet and was stretching up his paws to her. She backed up even more until her back whacked against the side of the well house. "Inuyasha!"

Unsure of whether to laugh or help her out, Inuyasha stood frozen to the ground, taking in the utter craziness of the scene before him. Finally deciding to take pity on her (and blaming it on the guilt he felt earlier), he stepped in front of the cat, squatted down, and stuck his face right up to the tiny whiskered nose.

"Oi." As he predicted, the cat stopped his advance on the helpless girl and sniffed the air. Seeing him suddenly with whatever sixth sense it was that animals had, Buyo hissed and took off in the opposite direction at an astonishing speed for such a fat kitty. Unfortunately, he left the worm behind.

"Kill it! Kill it!"

"It's just a worm…"

"Kill it!"

"It's not like it can hurt you."

"Kill it!"

"You know, it's not even moving very much. Half dead really..."

"Kill it!"

Heaving a sigh, Inuyasha kicked the unfortunate worm into the trees behind the fence. "Better?"

Looking around as if the worm were going to pounce back out at her and slime her to death, she eventually said, "Yes, thank you."

"I swear you are so weird sometimes."

Kagome blushed at that and then, remembering she was mad at him, turned around and continued her walk back to her house.

"Hey!"

No response. Kagome kept walking as if she hadn't heard him. Figuring he was better off just keeping quiet until her temper had cooled down a little more, he trailed after her. When they reached the front door, Kagome paused. She still hadn't thought of what she was going to say to her mother. Maybe she should just tell the truth after all? She thought over that for a minute. Deciding the worst that could happen was them sending her to a mental institution (not likely, they were probably expensive), she finally opened the door. Making her way into the kitchen where she could here the rest of her family already, she squared her shoulders and prepared what she was going to say in her head._ 'Hey mom, gramps, Souta. I just wanted you all to know I'm not talking to myself all the time. I'm really speaking to my invisible half-demon Guardian named Inuyasha. What was that? What is he guarding me from? Well I don't really know, seeing as every time I try to ask him anything he either bites my head off or gives me a sarcastic reply.' _Okay, maybe that wasn't the best way to go about it, but that was the basic gist of it.

She reached the kitchen entrance and took a deep breath. _'Here goes.' _She stepped inside.

"Kagome! You're just in time for breakfast sweetie. Sit down."

"Er, okay." She let out the breath with a silent whoosh, glad for the distraction breakfast offered. _'I'll tell them in a minute…'_

Her brother looked over to her from across the table. Chopsticks half way to his mouth he said, "You're up awfully early today sis."

"Yeah…"

Her grandfather waved her attention over to him. "Souta is going to help me unpack my new shipment after breakfast, would you like to help?" Her brother put his hands together in a 'please help me' sign, silently begging her to say yes so he wouldn't be stuck by himself listening to the history of every single thing they put away.

"Er, sorry grandpa. I have a paper to write for school."

Her mom turned around at that. "I thought you were going to finish that last night?"

"Oh, well I did, but it still needs a lot of work. It's just a first draft."

Her grandfather gave a little shrug. "Oh well, Souta and I can handle it by ourselves anyways can't we?"

"Sure…" he said somewhat sullenly, then under his breath, "Could even do it with one less person…"

"What was that?" grandpa said turning his head.

"Nothing gramps!"

"Oh, alright then. Finish up; we need to get an early start if we want to finish it all today."

Souta gave a small sigh and continued to eat his breakfast, occasionally sending his sister a glare. Kagome just stuck her tongue out at him when no one was looking.

"Mom!"

"Kagome."

"Grandpa!"

"Come on Souta, let's get going." And her grandfather stood up to start gathering his dishes together.

"Don't worry about that grandpa, I'll do the dishes today," Kagome said waving his hands away. She was eager to have the guys leave, deciding it would be easier to tell her mother when they were alone.

"Oh, well thank you Kagome. Hurry up Souta, those boxes won't unpack themselves. Wait till I show you this new mask I bough, it has the most amazing story behind…" and her grandfather's voice trailed off into the distance as they walked out to go to the shrine.

"Okay honey, what's up?"

Kagome turned back to her mom with an innocent look on her face. "Um, what do you mean?"

Her mother tilted her head to one side and gave her a little smile. "Don't give me that. It was sweet of you to offer to do the dishes, but I know you better than that. Now what do you want to talk about?"

Smiling sheepishly at being seen through so well, Kagome fiddled with the food on her plate. "Well, it's about this morning…"

"Ah, go on then."

"Well…" Where should she start? She paused and tried to begin again, but couldn't think of what to say.

Her mom felt her hesitation and gave her a little push in the right direction. "So who is Inuyasha? That's a very unusual name…"

"Yeah, well he's a very unusual person…" At this remark she heard a small 'hmph' from near the stovetop. Hoping her would keep quiet, she hurried on. "He's sort of a friend of mine." No comments at this, she was pleased to hear.

"A friend? I didn't see anyone else upstairs though." Her mom looked a little confused at her admission to having another person in her bedroom with her.

"Yes, well, you wouldn't have…"

Her mother looked even more confused at this. "Kagome…?"

Plowing on before her mom could say anything else; Kagome let the words flow from her rapidly. "I'm not crazy mom, but I have this person following me around. Not like that though! He's friendly, well sometimes anyways, and he says he's here to protect me and keep me safe, even though he won't tell me from what. Maybe he doesn't even know himself, but even if he did he probably still wouldn't tell me just to be petty. I can't see him, at least not unless he's touching the old well, and I'm the only one who can hear him, except for Buyo, but he doesn't really count cause he's a cat. And he says he's a hanyou, a half-demon, which I believe because he has claws and fangs and fuzzy dog ears on tops of his head. And he was the one making me act so weird last night because we had a fight and he was mad and decided to play tricks on me to get back at me for calling him an irritating jerk, even though he deserved it because he called me brainless. And um, that's about it." _'Whew!'_ She waited anxiously for her mother to say something or for her expression to change from the slightly shocked/disbelieving look she was wearing.

"Um, ah, Kagome dear…are you feeling alright?"

Kagome nodded her head emphatically. "I'm fine mom! I know it sounds strange, but it's true. You have to believe me!"

Mrs. Higurashi watched her daughters face quietly for a minute. All she could see in her features, though, was earnest hope with a slightly desperate edge in her eyes. But no sign that she was playing a joke on her or any deception whatsoever. She looked deep Kagome's eyes in search of any traces of mischief, a telling sign she was trying to pull a fast one, but saw nothing to indicate she wasn't being truthful. A little disturbing considering what she had just been told. "I don't know Kagome." She saw her daughter's face crumble. She thought quickly, trying to keep her from tears. "You say his name is Inuyasha?"

The thankful look she received erased any doubt she had lingering. Kagome was far too relieved at her words for her to just be making this up.

"That's right. Thanks mom."

"For what?"

Kagome stood up and reached over to her mother, wrapping her arms around her in a tight embrace. "For lots of things, but mostly just believing me and not sending me to the funny farm."

"Oh sweetie, don't be silly!" her mother replied, squeezing her back. "Those places are way too expensive."

Kagome laughed at the light comment and pulled back to sit in her chair again. "That's what I figured."

"So, tell me more about this hanyou that's watching over you. He sounds quite fearsome looking. Claws and fangs!" She gave a little shuddered, envisioning some sort of giant guard dog following her little girl around.

"Oh, no mom. I made him sound worse than he is. He looks like a normal person other than that; about my age, maybe a little older. He dresses funny and has really long silver hair, but is really quite handsome overall." _'Oops! I forgot he was listening. I hope he doesn't get mad I said that. Or get a swelled head...'_

"Handsome eh… when do _I_ get to see this young man?" her mom asked with a sly smile.

"Moooom! It's not like that! He doesn't even really like me… He's always yelling at me, and we're constantly bickering. And I've only known he's been here for the last day and a half! Besides, I'm pretty sure you can't see him. I'm the only one to do it in a very long time he said."

"Really…hmm, sounds as though he might be afraid to get too close to you. Probably because he's not used to talking to someone. I can't see any other reason, unless he's just terribly unsociable."

"My money's on anti-social."

"Just be your charming self, Kagome, I'm sure he'll come around."

"Not likely. But I'll try mom."

"There's a girl. Now if you're done eating, I believe you promised to do the dishes?" With a small half hearted groan, Kagome got up and began clearing the breakfast plates.

As her mother got up to leave the room, she turned around with a hesitant look on her face. "Kagome, this is all…well, a little strange, to pit it mildly. I would be careful about who you tell. Maybe you should keep this from your grandfather for now. You know how he gets when anything… different, comes up." Kagome certainly knew what her mother was talking about. Just last year, she had complained of a cold draft in her room and had had to sleep with warding charms all over her bed, walls and windows for a week, her grandfather convinced it was an evil spirit. Turns out it was just faulty air ducts, but her grandfather still insisted it _could_ have been a spirit.

"I think you're right."

Walking over to Kagome, she planted a light kiss on her forehead before turning to address the room. "And _you_. Please try to get along while you are here. Kagome really is a good girl and quite a nice person once you get to know her."

"Mo-om!"

And with one last smile, Mrs. Higurashi walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Once the door had shut, Kagome continued stacking up the dishes to bring to the sink. She worked in silence, filling up the sink with soapy water and scrubbing at the plates with a sponge. After rinsing and setting everything out to dry, she turned to the table and proceeded to wipe that down, still without talking. She knew he would have to say something sooner or later, and she was content to wait for him, still basking in her mother's acceptance of the insanely weird.

"Your mom…"

Straightening, Kagome tossed the sponge back in the sink and turned around, giving him her attention.

"She's…something else."

Kagome smiled. "I know."

"I'm surprised she believed you."

She shook her head. "I'm not."

"Really? Why? Anyone else would think you were nutso."

She raised one shoulder and let it drop in a half shrug. "She's just like that. I can talk to her about anything and she won't criticize or judge. I'm…I'm really lucky to have her," Kagome admitted with a fond smile on her lips.

"Hmm," came the thoughtful reply. Then, "So you think I'm handsome huh?"

Cheeks burning, Kagome turned around and lied. "No!"

"Uh huh."

"Don't be stupid, I just forget what you looked like for a minute and said the first thing that popped into my head."

"Really." His voice sounded very amused now. "It seemed like an accurate description to me."

"Oh, just drop it already!"

And for once, he did.

* * *

AN- Hopefully the length will make up for the lapse in update and any idiocy that may have popped up in the course of my ramblings.

Thank to all my reviewers. I really enjoy your input, especially repeated input. :-)

Special thanks to biawutnow for the heads up on anonymous reviews. I apologize to anyone who couldn't review because of my oversight. I sowwy . I did not know. It's fixed now though, so feel free to leave an unsigned review if you like.

Thanks for reading, bye for now!


	10. Glimpses of the Past

Disclaimer- Who is this Inuyasha you speak of? I've never heard of him…

AN- I swear you guys make me blush when I read your reviews. :-) -- Happy Bug

Moving along as if I knew what I was doing…

Glimpses of the Past

The rest of the morning slipped by in an uneventful mesh of everyday activities. Soon Kagome found herself in the kitchen again, helping her mother prepare lunch for the family. Today they were making Oyako-don. Truth be told, Kagome wasn't really that great a cook. But she tried, and more often than not, whatever she was trying to make seemed to turn out pretty well. Fortunately, this particular dish was fairly simple and her mom wasn't shooing her out as she usually did. So while she cut the onion and her mother diced chicken, the conversation between them floated casually, as if a huge secret hadn't been revealed only hours before.

"Kagome dear, start the rice now, would you?"

"Sure mom." Kagome grabbed a pot and filled it with enough rice for them all, adding the proper amount of water and then setting it on the stove to boil. She went back to the onions, only crying a little for their sad, sad fate.

"Uhhg." Sniffle. "Why do I always get to be the one to chop the onions when we cook together?"

Pausing in her work, Mrs. Higurashi looked up at her daughter with a wink. "Why, because you can't stand to see your mother cry, of course."

Sniff. "Yeah, I'm just a sucker like that."

"Yes, you are," she agreed with a small laugh, going back to her chicken.

Kagome finished with the onion as quickly as she could, eager to have her eyes stop burning. Checking on the rice, she noted it had started to boil and gave it a quick stir before lowering the heat and covering it. She grabbed a pan to begin the next part of the preparation and set it on the stove to heat up next to the rice pot. Then she gathered together her ingredients.

Inuyasha spoke up after what had seemed like a very long while. "This time, don't mix them up."

Blushing, as she remembered he had probably been here for the last time she helped make this particular dish a week and a half ago, she said, "Don't worry, I won't."

"What was that?" her mother asked, not looking up as she scooped the finished chicken into a bowl and set it aside so she could wipe counter.

"Nothing, Inuyasha just kindly reminded me not to mess up this time."

"Oh, yes," came a little chuckle as she remembered the decidedly _sweet _flavor of the last rice bowl. "Well just remember, it's twice the amount of soy sauce to mirin, not the other way." (AN-Mirin is a sweet rice wine.)

"I know, I know."

"And don't measure the sugar over the pan this time."

Sigh. "I learned my lesson about _that _the hard way."

"Actually we all did."

At this, they both laughed remembering the faces everyone had made after the first bite. Kagome's smile lingered on her face as she carefully measured out each ingredient, making sure to get them right the first time. Fist came the dashi stock, then the soy sauce and mirin, and finally the sugar (measured over the counter of course). She stirred the soup-like mixture a little to dissolve the sugar, then left it to simmer.

As Kagome busied herself around the kitchen with her mother, Inuyasha sat on the table observing them both quietly. There was something about the way they worked together like this that made him feel at paece. Actually, there were a lot of things about this girl that made him feel peaceful… Wasn't it supposed to be the other way around though? Shouldn't he be the one giving _her_ peace of mind, allowing her to feel safe knowing he was around to keep her protected? Not that he was really complaining, it was a nice change after all. Maybe he would tell her a little bit about himself as a kind of repayment? True she didn't know the effect she had on him, but she had been trying so hard to get to know him… What could it hurt? Answer: nothing but his pride, and that was pretty much shot to hell anyways, with this stupid Guardian curse.

Now Mrs. Higurashi was adding the chicken to the pan, stirring for a few minutes before adding the onions. Kagome, he saw, was whisking together something in a bowl. Oh, it was eggs, judging by the empty carton on the counter near her elbow. Now the heat was being turned up under the pan. Kagome was talking to her mother about some school exam or another, he wasn't really paying attention. It was the sound of her voice he was listening to at the moment, not the words. Ah, the stuff was boiling now.

"Oi, Kagome, you're chicken is boiling."

Kagome turned her attention to the stove. "Oh, thank you," she said, waving vaguely to the table at her mom's confused look. She brought the eggs over and poured them on top of the chicken mix, covered it with a lid and lowered the heat once more. Turning to her mother again, she said, "I'll go get gramps and Souta now."

"Okay, lunch should be finished by the time you drag your grandfather away from the shrine anyways."

Hurrying across the courtyard to the shrine, Kagome heard Inuyasha say something behind her. She stopped and turned around, smiling. "Why Inuyasha, was that a compliment I heard?"

"Hmph. Don't be stupid. All I said was it didn't look like you completely messed it up this time. I could be wrong though."

"No, no, no. I believe what you actually said, was that it looked pretty _good_ this time. And that," she said pointing a finger at the air, "was a compliment."

"Feh, whatever. Probably tastes like crap again."

"Not that you would know if it did." She paused, thinking at that for a minute. "Would you?"

"Maybe," he said noncommittally.

She rolled her eyes and continued on. "That's a no."

He made a huffing sound as if offended by that. "Hey, I might be able to taste and eat things too. Not like you ever even offered me anything."

Instantly Kagome turned to him with a rather ashamed look on her face. "Oh, Inuyasha, I'm so sorry! That's was rude of me. Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?"

Inuyasha kicked at the ground, glad she couldn't see the shamefaced look on his face. He hadn't meant to upset her like that…

"Er, no. I was, uh, just teasing you. I really don't need to eat." Instead of getting angry at having fooled her again though, she looked relieved.

"Oh good. I was afraid for a second there that I'd been starving you."

"Please, you think I would rely on you to be able to eat? Get real." What was he doing? Was he _trying_ to piss her off? But again, she just shrugged his comment off and smiled.

"No, I guess if you had to rely on me to eat, you might end up starving anyways, seeing what a poor cook I am and all." With that she flashed him a mischievous grin and continued on to the shrine, getting halfway up the stairs before he began to follow again, dumbfounded expression still in place.

* * *

By the time Kagome had managed to get her grandfather away from his storeroom, her mother had not only finished preparing lunch, she had set the table, made a salad, portioned the rice into the bowls and was just pouring the chicken and egg mixture over the last bowl when they came in. 

"Ah, such perfect timing."

Instead of sitting down at the table though, the two guys stared at the bowls with hesitant looks on their faces.

Souta cleared his throat and asked cautiously, "Um, is that Oyako-don?"

His sister turned to look at him suspiciously. "Yes…"

"Oh. And uh, did you help make it?"

Kagome crossed her arms over her stomach. "Yes."

Her brother and grandfather's faces fell as one. "Oh."

Kagome could feel her eyebrow twitching as she said with forced calm, "There's nothing wrong with it."

Seeing their impending doom in that eyebrow, the two quickly put on big smiles and waved their hands at her assuredly.

"Oh yeah, yeah."

"I'm sure it's wonderful Kagome dear."

Unconvinced, she just looked at them and said, "Uh huh. You could at least try it before you give me that look."

"Of course!" they both said overenthusiastically.

Uncrossing her arms, she hung her head and sighed.

"Can you really blame them?" Inuyasha asked. But of course she didn't reply.

Mrs. Higurashi took pity on her daughter and said loudly to them all, "I've already tried it and it tastes perfect. Kagome, you did a wonderful job this time honey. Now sit down and eat, everyone, before it gets cold."

So they did and Kagome noted with some satisfaction, and after seeing both her brother and grandfather still take a small dubious bite first and then eat their lunch in earnest, that it _did_ turn out pretty darn good, thank you very much.

Her mind turned back to the short conversation she and Inuyasha had earlier. It was kind of sad that he couldn't eat anything. No wait, that wasn't what he said. He said he didn't _need_ to eat didn't he? She made a mental note to ask him later if he was actually capable of eating, or if it was just unnecessary. She wouldn't mind making something for him to enjoy if that was the case, since she really did love cooking for her friends and family. And even if she didn't admit it out loud to him, he was beginning to grow on her. _'Guess he's wormed his way under my skin in more ways than one.'_

After lunch, the guys headed back to the shrine to finish unpacking, Souta once again asking/pleading her to help and her again politely/firmly refusing. She'd make it up to her brother by helping with the next one by herself. She wasn't a complete bully after all. Not that she would tell him that.

When the table was cleared and the dishes were done, Kagome headed up to her room to finish off the last of her homework before night fell. Rewriting her book report, two pages of algebra and a language workbook. Yup, five hours aught to just about cover that. She heaved a weary sigh as she plopped down at her desk to begin. She raised her arms over her head, locking hands to stretch them out for a few seconds and then bringing them down to flex her fingers several times before picking up her pencil. Looking over her previous work she made some random markings here and there to fix any problems she found.

"Oi."

Startled, her hand jerked over the paper leaving a dark line in its wake. Growling slightly, she twisted her chair around slowly.

"Sorry, sorry," he said hurriedly before she could yell at him.

"What is it?" she asked impatiently.

"Nothing, I'm just bored."

Giving a little sigh of frustration at the apparent lack of ability for hanyous to amuse themselves, she queried, "Well what do you usually do?"

"Stare at you."

Kagome blushed at this plain statement. "Oh… Is that all?"

"No, I usually talk to whoever is here, but you seem to have an annoying habit of stopping my train of thought."

"Only when you voice it."

"Which is all the time."

"Your fault, not mine." And here she turned back to her paper, flipping the pencil upside down to try and erase the worst of the line.

"Oh come on, don't be like that."

She ignored him and kept correcting her report, trying to make it as mistake free as possible. Fortunately she hadn't done as bad a job as she originally assumed. This might not take as long as she first thought it would. She was just about done with the last paragraph when she heard a horrible sound coming from her bed.

It was Inuyasha.

And he was singing. Very poorly.

"I am slowly going crazy, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, switch. Crazy going slowly am I, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, switch."

Shaking her head at the sound, she hurried to finish the last few sentences. Unfortunately, what had started off as a soft and slow repetition was quickly picking up in both speed and volume.

"I am slowly going crazy, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, switch. Crazy going slowly am I, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, switch."

Just as she was sure even her mother would be able to hear him (not to mention every single person in a four block radius), she made the last correction on her paper, set down her pencil and spun around shouting, "Alright, alright. Cut it out already!"

The singing stopped.

"What, you don't like my singing?"

"Deaf corpses wouldn't like your singing."

"Well now that's a little harsh. And I'm pretty sure all corpses are deaf, seeing how they're dead and all."

"Well if they weren't before, they are now."

"Yeah, yeah, so are you done yet?"

"No, I'm not done. I have a ton left to do still." She raised her hand before he could protest. "But, I will take a break. If you promise to never sing again for as long as I live."

"I promise."

"And no crossing your fingers."

"How…but…" Now how had she known that?

"C'mon, do we have a deal? You spare my eardrums if I spare you from boredom?"

"Fine, wench. But there will be a time when you want to hear my beautiful voice again. Then you'll regret this hasty promise."

"Somehow I think I'll manage, "she stated with a wry smile. "Do you want to take another walk? We could go to the park down the street."

"Yeah, but then you can't talk to me or people will think you're crazier than you really are."

"Er, thanks for your consideration…I think."

"We don't have to go anywhere…"

A thought occurred to Kagome. "Inuyasha, do you want to talk to me?"

"Stupid, what do you think we've been doing this whole time."

"No, no. I mean do you really want to talk to me. Like about more than just random, whatever-pops-up things. Won't you tell me something about yourself?"

She half expected him to brush her request off again. Or to tell her to mind her own business. Instead, he said, "Alright."

"You're not just going to chew me out again are you?"

"No, I'll be honest."

Sensing a change in his attitude, for once in a positive direction, she started him off with the least offensive thing she could think of. "So, tell me about the other people you've watched over. How many have there been?"

"Twenty-five." No hesitation. So he had been lying when he first told her he didn't know. Figures.

"Twenty-five huh? And you said you were awake for fifty years, so that's two years for each one? Does that mean you'll be with me for two years?" Somehow that didn't seem as bad as it would have just yesterday.

"No, I wasn't with them all the same amount of time."

"Oh…"

"Some people I was only around for a few days, some months and , well, the longest one was for three years."

"Wow, so you really don't know how long you'll be here."

"No."

"So, this longest one, the person you guarded for three years, what were they like?"

"Boring."

Kagome frowned and gave him an irritated look. "You probably think that about everyone."

"True, but Yasuyuki was especially boring. I swear in the three years I followed him, he did the same thing every single day. The guy was a workaholic too. No family, no wife, no kids. I guess he had to throw himself into something."

"Yasuyuki. You remember his name? How long ago was this?"

"I dunno, probably about a hundred years or so."

"A hundred years! Wow, you have a really good memory."

There was a short silence after that, in which Kagome wondered if she had upset him somehow. But then he spoke again, if a little sadly.

"I remember all of them. Junichi was a carpenter. He could make the most amazing rocking chairs I've ever seen. Nami had the cutest smile; she was only five years old, my youngest charge so far. Satomi was a bit vain, but she had a killer sense of style, at least for the time period she was in, the fifties if you were wondering. Hidenori had three kids, all girls, all spoiled rotten by their father, but still kind of sweet in that annoying little kid way." He paused for a minute. "You should probably finish your school work."

"No, that's okay. Go on. I don't mind, really."

He sighed. "I'm trying to tell you I'm done talking wench. Now stop bugging me and finish your work."

Almost physically restraining herself from pointing out it was _him _who had bothered her in the first place, Kagome turned back to her desk and got a new piece of paper to write out her final draft on. As she copied down the words from her previous paper she thought over what he had said. All those people, all the time he had spent with them. Yet he never once had gotten the chance to speak with any of them. She began to wonder if, in ten years, he would be remembering her in the same kind of sad, detached way. The thought disturbed her, especially considering she would know he was out there somewhere, be it sleeping, or following around behind someone who didn't even know he was there.

Silence filled the room from both people as Kagome waded through one assignment after another until itbegan to get dark out. As the sun began it's final decent past the horizon, she slapped her pencil down atop her books with a hearty and satisfied sigh.

"Done!"

"Well that didn't take long," came the sarcastic reply.

She just stuck out her tongue at him. "I think I'll go downstairs and see if mom needs any help."

"No need, she's already done."

"How do you know?"

"I can smell it, plus I could hear her making it."

"Oh, you can smell it? Oooh what did she make?"

"Salmon and miso soup."

"Yummy!" she exclaimed jumping up from the chair and heading for the door. "Last one down does the dishes!" With that she dashed down the stairs and skidded to a halt before the dinning room door.

"Sorry wench you lose," said Inuyasha from in front of her.

"Hmph, you cheated."

"No I didn't, you're just slow."

She stuck her tongue out again instead of responding and opened the door. "Let's go."

"After you."

Dinner was better tonight, since they were actually on speaking terms this time. And after clean up and some family time together in front of the TV, Kagome went upstairs and got ready for bed. Sitting on her mattress combing out her wet locks (considerably easier to do this time, having put conditioner in) Kagome remembered something she had meant to ask earlier.

"Hey Inuyasha?"

"Mmm?"

"Can you eat if you want to?"

"Didn't we already go over this?"

"Sort of. You said you didn't need to eat, but I was wondering if you could if you wanted to."

"I…suppose. Why?" he asked suspiciously.

"Just curious."

"Uh huh…"

Swiping the comb through her hair one last time, she placed it back on her night stand and moved to turn the light out. In the darkness she settled herself comfortably under her covers. Snuggling down into her pillow she whispered softly, "Good night Inuyasha. Thank you for talking to me today."

"Whatever. Good night."

"Sweet dreams."

"I don't dream."

"Oh, well sweet memories then."

"Good _night_."

"Good night."

Quiet descended over them for a few peaceful minutes, then…

"Inuyasha?"

"Dammit, what _is _it with you! Are we going to go through this every night?"

Soft laughter. "No, sorry. I just wanted to ask you not to get me up so early tomorrow."

"Feh, we'll see."

"Alright, thanks… Good night again."

"Good night Kagome."

* * *

AN- And slowly but surely we make our way to an actual plot. It'll be somewhere in here, I promise.

Bye for now.


	11. Hidden Meanings

Disclaimer- Not (mine mine mine mine).

AN- Enjoy!

Hidden Meanings

She was dreaming. No, there wasn't some big sign that said 'Welcome to Dreamland', but still, she was fairly certain she wasn't awake. The funny feeling that she wasn't supposed to be here gave her some clue to that. That and the fact the she was standing in the middle of a giant forest. But hey, she could have been sleepwalking. In the middle of the afternoon. In her school uniform… Maybe not. So. She was dreaming.

She was walking around, looking at her surroundings through that hazy almost-can't-see-it-but-kind-of-can dream vision. She got the feeling she was supposed to be looking for something, but couldn't remember what. It was tugging at the back of her head trying to get her attention, but for the life of her she couldn't figure out what it was. As she came to a clearing, she suddenly recognized something.

'_Hey! That's the Bone Eaters Well!' _Hurrying toward the only familiar thing in sight, she was halfway there when she heard someone call out from somewhere behind her.

"Inuyasha!" Turning, she saw a girl dressed in old fashioned priestess robes making her way through the forest with a grimace on her face and one arm clutched to her side. She watched in morbid fascination as she suddenly raised a bow and arrow and took aim into the distance. "Die!"

The last thing she thought before waking, as she watched the arrow whiz off into the dense forest was, _'She looks just like me…'_

"Kagome. Kagome!"

"Mmhhhrrrr."

"Wakey, wakey."

"Shhhmph."

"I let you sleep in, so now you have to get up."

Rolling her body to face the alarm clock, she saw that he _had_, in fact, let her sleep in as she had asked. It was quarter after nine, and while she would have normally enjoyed staying asleep as long as humanly possible on the weekends, she was nonetheless impressed Inuyasha had restrained himself from tossing her onto the floor already. He hadn't thus far impressed her with his astounding amount patients She threw back her blanket and swung her feet over the side of her bed, arching her back and stretching her arms above her head with a yawn.

"Ah! Thanks for that. You now, I had the strangest dream last night…"

"Oh yeah?"

She nodded. "Yeah, but I can't really remember it. Just that it was weird."

"Maybe you dreamed you were looking in a mirror."

"Jerk!" she yelled, throwing her pillow at him.

"That was even farther off than yesterday. You sure it was aimed at me?"

"Ha ha, very funny." She made a shooing motion towards the door. "Now leave so I can dress."

"Pushy wench."

"And this time tell me if my mom is coming _before _I walk into her."

"I'm not your personal alert system," came the response form behind the door. "Besides, she already came up and dropped off your clothes."

"Oh, alright." And looking in her dresser, she saw he was right. Her clothes from yesterday were back in her drawer, washed and neatly folded. Remembering that the weather forecaster on TV had said there was going to be a dip in temperature today, she chose a pair of jeans and a light-weight lavender sweater to wear. She fiddled with her hair for a while, trying it up, half up, and in a bun before brushing it out and deciding to keep it down like she usually did. That was how she liked it best anyways. She gazed at her reflection for a moment more, tilting her head this way and that. Bringing her hands up to her hair once more, she lifted it into a low ponytail, letting two thick locks lay to either side of her face. Their was something familiar about the way she looked with her hair like that, but she couldn't remember having ever actually worn her hair like this before. Oh, wait a minute. Wasn't it-

"Oi! Aren't you done yet?"

Dropping her hands from her hair, she turned to the door and said, "Yeah, I'm done. Sorry." She looked back at the mirror, but whatever she had thought of a second ago had fled her mind, leaving her a little confused as to what she had been trying to remember in the first place. _'Oh well, couldn't have been that important.' _She sniffed the air. _'Ooh! I smell omelets!' _And with that innocent thought, she rushed to the door and flung it open, running full speed past a surprised hanyou.

"Hey!"

Half way down the stairs she called back, "Can't beat me this time."

Inuyasha smiled and leapt down the steps after her, taking one final jump to land in front of her. "Wanna bet?"

Hearing his voice from in front of her for the second time, Kagome gave a pretend frown. "No fair. I know you're cheating somehow."

"Like I said before; you're just too slow."

"Hmph, well like _I_ said before…," and here she stuck out her tongue.

"That's very mature Kagome. Real sportsman like."

She grinned over her shoulder as she made to step into the kitchen. "Whatever," and left Inuyasha with his own grin at having had his favorite answer thrown back at him.

* * *

Dusk found Kagome on the sidewalk after dinner. The sun had just set and the first evening star was twinkling its merry way into view. After having eaten way too much if her mother's cooking, Kagome had decided to take a walk to the park down the street, figuring there would be few enough people around that she and Inuyasha talking wouldn't be a problem. 

"Ah!" she exhaled loudly, rubbing her stomach. "I need to stop eating so much. But it's so good!"

"I have no idea where you manage to put it all. You should weigh at least three hundred pounds by now if that's how you always eat."

"Guess I just have good genes."

"What the hell do your pants have to do with anything?"

"No silly!" she laughed. "I mean it's in my family to be small."

"Oh."

"Having been around five hundred years, you think you would have picked up a few brain cells along the way."

"Now wait just a minute wench! I know plenty of stuff okay. Just cause you know more about pants than I do-"

"Genes."

"Whatever, just cause you know more about one thing, doesn't make you smarter."

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha, you're right."

"And I- What?"

"I said you're right. I shouldn't have said that, it was rude."

"Yeah, well… forget it. Not like I never teased _you_ about anything."

"Ain't that the truth."

"Isn't."

"Huh?"

"What you meant to say was, 'Isn't that the truth." You're sentence was grammatically incorrect. And to be precise, it was a question and should have had an inflection at the end+."

"Er…"

Suddenly she heard a burst of laughter. Instead of feeling put out though, she laughed along with him. Reaching the park entrance, she looked around and saw that with the exception of one elderly couple and a man walking his dog, it was completely empty. "Okay, you win. I'll never doubt your intelligence again."

"Damn straight."

She made her way over to one of the giant colorful boxes that was full of holes for children to climb through and pulled herself to the top. Sitting down, facing the direction of the last dying light, she wrapped her arms around her knees and pulled them close to rest her chin on top.

"What a pretty sunset."

There was a pause as Inuyasha looked, confused, to the direction she was staring at. "Uh, Kagome? The sun set a while ago. It's dark now."

"I know. It's still pretty though."

"Feh."

"Oh look, the moon's out early tonight. I love it when it's just a crescent like that. Makes me think the sky is smiling at me." She laid down on her back to look at the whole sky. Slowly, as the minutes ticked by, more and more stars filled the darkness above. She mentally ticked off the few constellations she knew, making up a few of her own in the process. "Look over there Inuyasha," she whispered, pointing to a cluster of stars in the vague shape of a cat, "That constellation is the Fat Feline."

"I've never heard of that one before."

"And over there," she pointed to the stars a little bit above and to the right, "is the Un-openable Pickle Jar."

"I definitely haven't heard of that one…"

She moved her had to the opposite side of the sky. "There's my favorite though. Butterfly of Destruction. See how its wings are blowing all the other stars away?"

There was no response to this for a while. She began to think maybe he was biting his tongue to keep from calling her a complete nitwit, when he said, "What about that one on the left. Doesn't it look like a bloated frog?"

She shook her head. "I can't see where you're pointing remember?" Suddenly she felt her head being gently turned to the left and tilted up.

"There, below your Chubby Cat."

She blushed as his hands stayed on the sides of her face as she corrected, "Fat Feline…" She quickly found the group he was talking about. "Oh yeah I see it."

A minute went by.

"Uh, Inuyasha?"

"Yeah?"

"Um…you're still holding my head."

"Oh." And he quickly released her; glad she was unable to see his cheeks turn red.

Kagome sat up and gave a little shiver as a breeze swept through the park. Seeing this, he said, "You should probably go home now."

"You're right. I'll probably catch a cold if I stay out much longer." Turning her body, she put her foot into one of the big hole to lower herself down. On the second hole down however (and still about five feet from the ground) her foot slipped on the already dewy plastic, probably due to the drop in temperature.

"Iiee!" she squeaked, as her footing skidded from beneath her, sending her to the sand below. The impact never came though, as Inuyasha deftly caught her in his invisible arms. She gave a shaky laugh and said, "My hero. Thanks Inuya- oof! What the heck was that for?" At her statement of gratitude he had promptly dropped her the last foot and a half onto her behind.

"Sorry, you're heavy. Maybe you should lay off the dumplings."

"What! Why you obnoxious, insulting-"

"Compliments will only get you on my good side."

"-bullying jerk. See if I ever thank you again."

"Whatever. Get up and let's go home. Try not to trip on anything will you?"

Grumbling to herself about annoying hanyous and foul mistreatment, she got to her feet, brushing off her backside. With a few more choice phrases muttered under her breath, she started off towards the park's entrance. Another wind blew past her, making her shiver once more. She picked up her pace now, eager to get home and into a warm bath.

"Well, well. Now who are you young lady? And why are you out here all by yourself?" Kagome spun around the new, unfamiliar voice behind her. There she saw two young men, probably around eighteen or nineteen, walking towards her. One was wearing a zipped up leather coat and torn blue jeans, the other a long-sleeved black sweatshirt with some band she didn't recognize over very dark (probably black), pants.

"Could you be looking for some company?" the boy with the jacket asked and she recognized him as the one who had spoken before.

"Um, actually my, uh, boyfriend is with me, he just ran back to get his jacket he left behind. He'll be back any minute now…" God she hoped that didn't sound as fake to them as it did to her.

"I think you're lying." Guess it had. "There's no one back there is there?" This from the other boy with the heavy metal band shirt on her left.

"Kagome, don't panic." When she heard Inuyasha's voice from in front of her, she felt an incredible wave of gratitude flow over her. Her heart was still beating like it would leap from her chest at any second, but now she didn't feel as completely paralyzed with fear.

'Leather jacket' took a few steps towards her and smiled confidently. "I think you're right. Are you all by yourself sweet thing? Well don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you." And he started to reach out to grab her.

"Kagome, run!" As soon as she heard those words, she knew she had been waiting for them. Turning to the side she broke into a dead run and sprinted as if her life depended on it. And it just might have at that moment, but she wasn't sticking around to find out. Not wanting to, but unable to resist, Kagome looked back over her shoulder to see if she was being followed. And skidded to a halt. Her mouth hung open in shock as she saw one figure lying on the ground, moaning and holding his stomach, while the other one was getting tossed into the wall and banged repeatedly against it. He too finally dropped to the ground in an untidy heap.

"Dammit Kagome! I told you to get away from here! What the hell are you doing still hanging around!" She backed up a step at the fury in his voice.

"I'm sorry, I uh…"

"Get your ass home! Now!" he roared.

Practically tripping over her own feet in order to do just that, she ran the rest of the way to the shrine without stopping. By the time she reached the top of the steps, she was out of breath and shaking from the shock of what just happened. Finding her way to the nearest bench, she plopped down and put her head between her knees to calm her racing pulse. She saw that she was next to the sacred tree and looked up into its branches, trying to find what peace she could there. What had just happened? What _could_ have just happened? _'If Inuyasha hadn't been there…'_ She might have found herself in big trouble. Speaking of…

"Inuyasha…?"

No response. She happened to glance down and caught her breath at what she saw. There, behind the small fence that surrounded the God Tree and sitting on the base of the tree with his back against it, was Inuyasha. His head was lowered in his hands and his knees were drawn up to his chest, much like she had been sitting before in the park. He looked…upset. Getting up from her seat, she stepped over the fence and knelt down beside him. Cautiously she reached out a hand and tried to place it on him. Slightly rough fabric and warm body heat met her palm. She gave a little gasp of surprise. Inuyasha jerked his head up at her touch and his golden eyes met her in the semi-darkness. She noticed the worry and pain etched in his features. "Inuyasha, are you alright?"

"Kagome…" Suddenly, he reached out and grabbed her arm that rested on his shoulder. For a moment she thought he was going to push her away, but instead her jerked her into an embrace and held on tightly.

"Um, Inuyasha? What's the matter?" she asked after a slightly shocked minute on her part, though her voice was slightly muffled by his coat. She was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable in this position, being half sprawled over his lap with her knees on the cold ground. She tried to maneuver into a more comfortable spot, trying not to disturb him at the same time. It felt kind of nice, being held by him like this. He smelled really good too. Kind of like warm fur and earth after a good rain pour, plus one other thing she couldn't put a name to. She figured that was just his own personal scent though. If only that stupid rock would quit poking her knee now…

Just as abruptly as he grabbed her, Inuyasha pushed her away, leaving her a little cold and mildly disappointed. "Next time I tell you to run, wench, you better run. And don't turn around to gawk!"

Feeling as though she were being wrongly accused of something she felt her defensive level rise. "There was no one coming after me, I was watching to make sure you were okay."

"Well next time don't! That's my job, not yours! Okay?" His legs had moved to the tailor position when he was hugging her and now he put his hands on each knee and leaned in to yell at her some more. "Just listen to me before you get hurt or something!"

She crossed her arms over her stomach angrily. "I don't see why you're so upset about this. I wasn't hurt."

"This time!"

"And you'll protect me next time too, so quit harping already would you!"

"I might not always be here to protect you stupid girl! I'm no hero, don't you realize that?"

"Well you're here now, doesn't that count!"

"Kagome is that you?"

Kagome looked up at the sound of her mother calling her. "Yeah mom, I'm over here." She saw a bouncing beam of light come closer from the flashlight in her mom's hand.

"Oh good. I was getting worried. I had just come out to look for you too." She got a little closer to the tree and pointed the flashlight to the ground so she wouldn't be blinding her daughter. "What are you doing out here? It's getting late and it's very cold- oh, hello. I'm sorry; I didn't see she had company." Kagome looked up to her mother in shock, as did Inuyasha. Was it possible?

Mrs. Higurashi raised the flashlight a little higher and took a step closer. "Ah, you must be Inuyasha."

Well that answered that. Inuyasha shook his head in disbelief and turned his head to look at Kagome. "What is it with your family?"

Kagome just shrugged her shoulders and smiled. Unfortunately her mother didn't seem to have heard the question. "Oh dear. I still don't seem to be able to hear you I'm afraid. Ah well, at least I know for sure you exist now. As much as I love my daughter, I did still have my doubts." She turned to Kagome and gave her a little wink and leaned in to whisper, "You're right dear, he is very handsome. And what adorable ears. They are real, aren't they?"

Kagome nodded and whispered back, "As far as I know, but he won't let me near them."

Inuyasha managed to pick up their comments despite the hushed voices and flushed slightly at them, shooting a little glare at Kagome as if it were her fault his ears were adorable.

Seeing Inuyasha going back to his regular grumpy self, Kagome stood up and stepped over the fence to stand near her mother. "Let's go inside now. I'm getting pretty tired and I have school tomorrow anyways."

"Don't think we're done discussing this wench."

Kagome waved her hand at him innocently. "I wouldn't dream of it."

"I'll bet." He grumbled as he got up to follow them back to the house. He definitely wasn't going to let the subject drop, he decided. And she would hear him out even if he had to hold her down to get her to listen. Remembering the feel of her hand on his shoulder and the warmth of her small body as he had embraced her, he thought maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea after all. Shaking his head at that thought, he continued on in the dark after the two strange women.

* * *

AN- Big yawn. Time for bed. 

Thanks to all the lovely comments I've been receiving. They keep me going when I feel like quitting. Hence all the fast updates you love so much. LoL I swear I check my email every fifteen minute. I'm such a sucker for praise. :-)

To answer angel-tears-16; although I have read Bottle Genius (a great story, I highly recommend it also), I didn't get my actual inspiration from it. Though the author herself did (metaphorically) motivate me into writing with her unique style. I swear that girl is absolutely hilarious sometimes and just plain funny the rest of it.

(+AN- This technically isn't true in the Japanese language, but for the sake of fun I'll just say it is.)

Bye for now.


	12. School Again

Disclaimer- Now if I owned Inuyasha, do you honestly think I would be sitting here writing this instead of vacationing in the Bahamas? I think not.

AN- I'm glad you guys liked the last chapter. I was a little worried about it being too mushy so soon. :-)

School Again

Kagome trudged up the stairs to her bedroom after giving her mom a quick kiss on the cheek and saying good night to her grandfather and brother. All in all, it had been a pretty calm day until just over an hour ago, but for some reason she felt exhausted. As she lifted one heavy foot after the other, she began to have trouble keeping her eyes open. _'Must be the adrenaline wearing off,' _she thought with a large yawn. _'Bath, then bed for me.'_ She just hoped she didn't fall asleep in the tub. Now wouldn't that be the icing on the cake? Inuyasha was already pissed for having to rescue her from two teenage thugs, she could just imagine his reaction if he had to save her from drowning in her own bath tub. _'He'd probably let me sink to the bottom and stay there, just to spite me.' _Of course that train of thought led to what would happen if he actually _did_ burst into the bathroom to save her from some very waterlogged dreams, and she felt her face heat up. _'Maybe I'll just take a bath in the morning when I'm not so sleepy.' _But even as she threw out the suggestion to herself, she could feel her scalp start to itch from the sweat that had dried there after her impromptu jog to the shrine.

Deciding she would take the risk of drowning in her sleep, she quickly grabbed an oversized t-shirt from her room to use as a night gown and a fresh pair of undies, then headed to the bathroom. As the tub filled with hot water, she brushed her teeth, briefly wondering as she did so, why Inuyasha was being so quiet. Shouldn't he be picking another fight with her about being careless or about how he might not be there to fight off attackers for her next time? _'What am I thinking? It sounds like I **want **him to yell at me or something. I'm not that much of a masochist am I?'_ Sighing at herself for being so ridiculous as to question her good luck in having a pissy Inuyasha keep to himself for once, she lowered herself into the tub and turned off the water. Kagome gave another little sigh, this one from absolute contentment. There was nothing like a nice hot bath to forget a bad day. Unfortunately, there was nothing like a hot bath to help you relax either, and soon she found herself drifting off as her head tilted forward onto her chest. At the last moment before sleep took her she suddenly jerked awake at the sound of her brother pounding up the steps and yelling, "Night momma, night gramps!"

'_Ah, I knew this was going to happen.'_ Sitting up straight, Kagome turned on the cold water faucet and let a small trickle of water flow onto her hands before splashing it on her face. _'Oh! Cold, cold, cold!' _Fortunately though, it had the desired effect and she immediately felt her tiredness slip to the background for the moment. Deciding to keep the water on just in case, she began to wash her hair with her favorite berry scented shampoo. After rinsing all of the suds out, she smoothed in some conditioner and clipped up her hair while she scrubbed at her skin with a soap bar. Figuring she was a squeaky clean as she was going to get, she unclipped her hair and gave it a quick swishing in the water to remove most of the conditioner. Feeling altogether much better, she stepped out of the tub, turned of the cold water and let it drain, wrapping a towel around her body and another around her hair. She let herself drip on the rug for a minute before rubbing her body dry and putting her night clothes on. She glanced at the fogged up mirror and in a flash of childishness drew a big smiley face on it. Eying her work critically she deciding it needed something. She made a few more marks with her finger, and then stepped back with a little smile. _'Perfect.'_

The smiley face now sported a set of fangs and two fuzzy pointed ears on top of its head.

She gave her hair a quick squeeze and patted as much of the water out as she could before laying the towel to dry on the rack next to the other. On her way out she dropped her old clothes in the hamper next to the door. When she reached for the handle she briefly wondered if she should warn Inuyasha this time. Opening the door with a mischievous smile, she decided against it. She was only slightly disappointed at the lack of hanyous falling to the floor when no sound came.

"Time for sleep," she said, heading to her room. And boy was she ready for it. _'I'm gonna be out as soon as my head hits the pillow. Inuyasha should be happy I won't be bugging him tonight.' _She gave an inward chuckle as she remembered his exasperation to all her bedtime questions.

She reached her room and shut the door, then turned off the light and flopped onto the bed, not even stopping to comb out her hair. Crawling under her comforter she called out a sleepy, "Night, Inuyasha," just before closing her eyes. Ah but irony was a cruel thing.

"Hey wench, don't go to sleep yet. I still need to talk to you."

She cracked her eyes open a little. She knew it was too good to be true. "Can't this wait til tomorrow?"

"No."

Kagome turned her head and groaned into her pillow. Why did he want to talk tonight? Why not yesterday or the day before? No, not Inuyasha. He had to wait for the night she doesn't_ want_ to stay up and chat to say, 'We need to talk.' Jerk. She turned her head back and said reluctantly, "Fine."

"Good," he said, and then threw himself into the speech he had been practicing before he could forget it all. "Now first off, I wanted to say again that relying on me to save you all the time is a stupid idea. You need to get it out of your head right now that I'm going to be here to protect you against whatever might come up and learn to keep yourself safe. You're careless and clumsy when it comes to protecting yourself. You walked right into those two bastards! What if I hadn't been there? You could have been…" Here he trailed off, not wanting to think of what might have happened to the girl laying above him if he had not been around. "But anyways, that's what I'm trying to get through to you here. You can't rely on me. I'm not your _hero_." He paused again. "I'm not…anyone's hero. I'm just a stupid hanyou who was cursed into helping others despite what he wants." A trace of bitterness had crept into his voice as he said this last part, but his voice resumed its former determined pitch as he spoke again. "There's something you need to know right now Kagome. I could be gone from you at any time. I don't have any control over how long I'm here and I don't get any warning before I leave. You could wake up tomorrow and I'd be gone. Whether I wanted to be or not…" He stopped his speech to glance up from the floor he was sitting on. "Do you understand?"

There was no response. Frowning, he stood up and looked down at the bed.

She was asleep.

'_What the hell! How dare she fall asleep with me pouring my heart out to her like this! I aught to push her out of bed right now.'_ He was sorely tempted to do just that and was actually reaching out to her when she stirred in her sleep and opened one eye halfway. He snatched his had back guiltily before he remembered she couldn't see him.

"…yasha? Don't worry so much…" And with that she rolled onto her other side to face the wall and fell back asleep.

With a surprised look on his face, Inuyasha plopped cross-legged onto the floor and stared at her sleeping back. '_Guess she was listening after all.' _Deciding to take her advice, turned his body and leaned back against her bed in his usual night time position, for once not thinking about what might happen in the morning if she woke up and he wasn't there.

* * *

"Time for school Kagome! Wake up!" 

Kagome jerked awake at the loud voice yelling at her from a foot away. "Inuyasha! Don't scream in my ear like that, I'll go deaf."

"You better hurry if you're going to be on time."

"What?" Looking over to her clock she realized she had forgotten to set it the night before. Grabbing it from the night stand she shook it and brought it up close to her face as if to make sure it was working properly. "Oh my gosh! School starts in half an hour. I'll never make it! Why didn't you get me up earlier!" Kagome dashed around her room throwing books into her backpack and stuffing the papers off of her desk into a folder before tossing that too in her bag. She ran to her dresser and began throwing clothes onto her bed and then began frantically rifling through one drawer. "Where are my socks? I can't find my socks!"

"Try the next drawer down."

Slamming the drawer shut she reached down and yanked open the next one, reveling several pairs of long white school socks. "Ah ha!" Tossing them onto the bed with everything else, she turned around and began stripping off her night shirt.

"Hey! Warn me before you do that!" Inuyasha abruptly spun around, turning his back to her. His cheeks burned a deep red as the sight of her pink polka dot underwear burned itself into his brain.

"Sorry! I'm just in a hurry." Her voice was muffled as he imagined she was pulling her uniform top over her head. Not that he was imagining her getting dressed right now… Dammit there went his cheeks again. For the hundredth time since he met her, he was glad Kagome couldn't see his reaction to her. He would probably have died from embarrassment a long time ago. He looked up as Kagome dashed past him, flinging her backpack over her shoulder as she swung open the door and headed down the hall to the stairs. She was already half way to the front door by the time he caught up.

"Bye mom! I'm running late, can't stop!"

"Oh Kagome don't forget your lunch. I left it by the door!" he mother shouted from the kitchen.

Kagome spotted the neatly tied bundle on an end table and grabbed it with one hand while sliding open the font door with her other. "Thanks mom!"

She quickly shut the door behind her as she ran out to the courtyard. As she passed by the steps to the main temple she saw her grandfather sweeping off the leaves from the cement. "Bye gramps!"

Looking up from the ground, her grandfather lifted a hand and waved as his granddaughter rushed past. "Have a good day at school Kagome!"

"Thanks!" She reached the entrance and slowed down slightly to make her way down the steps. It wouldn't do to start her week off by falling down the stairs and breaking her leg. Finally reaching the sidewalk, she broke out into an all out sprint and navigated her way through the early morning pedestrian traffic, occasionally calling out an apology as she ran into someone. Nearing her school she glanced up at one of the giant clocks that graced the front of some bank or another. _'Ten minutes! I might just make it.' _Putting on a little extra burst of speed, she smiled as her school came into view around the next corner. She saw her friends standing at the entrance waiting for her and her smile grew even more. Seeing her sprinting towards them, her friends lifted their hands and waved at her.

"Hurry up Kagome, the bell's gonna ring any minute."

"Wow, did you run the whole way here? You look exhausted."

"Too bad you didn't get here a little earlier, that nice boy from A class was here looking for you."

As she reached the final steps leading into the school her friends bombarded her with chatter. Together they hurried on to their first period class and slipped into their seats just as the first bell rang. Leaning over from her seat across the aisle, Eri gave her a little wink and whispered, "Cutting it awfully close this time Kagome."

Grinning, Kagome leaned over and replied back, "Don't I know it. I forgot to set my alarm last night."

"I'm surprised you made it all in that case. You should try out for the track team running like that."

"Yeah right. I only run like that to escape detention." _'And juvenile delinquents.'_

"Class, attention!" The two girls fell quiet as the teacher began to take attendance.

* * *

The day wore on as only a Monday could. Very slowly. Inuyasha found himself listening to familiar speeches about the importance of studying for the finals and reminders that next year they would be taking entrance exams for high school, so keep on top of their work if they planned on being accepted to a good school, yadda, yadda, yadda. He'd heard basically the same thing from every teacher since the time he began keep guard over Kagome. It was starting to get on his nerves. He could only imagine how annoying it must be for her. She actually had to pay attention to them. Or at least she was supposed to. For the second time that day, he caught her staring out the window as her teacher droned on about their future. She had such a thoughtful expression on her face, he wanted to ask what she was thinking, but he knew better, so he kept his mouth shut, lest she get annoyed and yell at him later when they got home. Now that was strange… When had he started referring to her house as _home_? Or more specifically, when had it started to feel like home? He grinned remembering yesterday afternoon when she and her mother had been preparing lunch and Mrs. Higurashi and innocently asked if Kagome's 'friend' would like something to eat and that it wouldn't be any trouble to make extra. He had expected Kagome to tell her he didn't need to eat, but instead she had waited to hear his reply. He said 'no' and Kagome related to her mother that he wasn't hungry. It had shaken him a little, to be so included, so…welcome. He had later asked Kagome why she hadn't just told her mother what he had told her. She had just blushed and said that she wouldn't have minded making extra for him either. When he pointed out he wouldn't have been able to eat with them anyways, unless she wanted her brother and grandfather to find out, she had just called him an idiot and told him to shut up. After which they had gotten into a rather heated name-calling session. He grinned again. That had been fun. She could be very creative when she was angry. Maybe that was when it had started to feel like home? 

The teacher was now writing down the next day's assignment on the blackboard. He leaned over from the window he was sitting on and called out to the school girl across from him.

"Oi, pay attention."

Kagome snapped out of whatever daydream she had been having and turned her interest back to the front of the classroom. She picked up her pencil and copied down her homework, inwardly counting down the days til school was over. So far every class had given at least three different assignments to be due at the end of the week and one thing due the next day. And it wasn't even lunch yet. The bell rang suddenly, signaling the end of class. Ah, there it was. Kagome stood up and bowed to the teacher with the rest of the class before packing up her things. Her friends joined her at the door.

"Man I thought lunch would never come, I'm starving." Ayumi held her stomach and made a face as if in pain. "I need food."

Kagome laughed at her friend. "Well let's go find a spot to sit then." The four girls headed out to the courtyard and chose an unoccupied bench to sit at.

"So how was your weekend Kagome?" Yuka asked around a mouthful of food.

Kagome thought about that for a minute. _'Well, I found out I have an invisible boy following my every move. Only he's not really a boy, he's a half-demon and he supposed to protect me from bad things even though he doesn't want to. He has a short temper, a foul mouth and the cutest little ears on his head that look they belong on an Akita. Oh, I was also almost assaulted by two teenage punks last night and boy did I get an earful about that one.'_ Maybe a little less information?

"It was okay."

"Mine was pretty boring too, what about you Eri? Weren't you and your mom supposed to go pick out baby clothes?" And the discussion turned to Eri's mother and the baby sister she was expecting sometime in June.

* * *

'_Last class of the day. I can't wait to go home.'_ So far the homework assignment streak hadn't been broken and as the teacher wound up the days lesson and began writing on the board, she could see she was going to have a _very _full night. _'Only three more weeks, only three more weeks.' _End of year couldn't come fast enough in her opinion. She was looking forward to laying around for two weeks, doing nothing. Of course they'd probably give her assignments anyways, just to ruin her fun. 

Kagome then heard the most beautiful sound in the world ringing through the class room. Aaah, school was over and not a second too soon. She joined her friends once more and walked with them through the crowded halls, trying to elbow their way around crowds of kids just as eager as them to get home. They walked together down the sidewalk gabbing about nothing and all agreeing they had way too much work to do when they got home. Kagome split away from them when she reached her street and waved good bye.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Bye Kagome!"

"See ya!"

"Don't forget to set your alarm tonight."

"I won't Ayumi, bye!"

She turned back and started down towards her home. It wasn't to long before she heard Inuyasha's voice next to her.

"Why do girls always talk so damn much?"

Kagome laughed at his disgruntled tone. "I don't know, maybe because we have a lot to say."

"Everybody has a lot to say, but they don't always say every little thing that's pops in their head."

"True. I guess we just like to hear the sound of our own voices then."

"Feh, must be."

She laughed again; glad he was in a somewhat good mood. After his reaction last night, she had been afraid he would go back to being all defensive. She remembered him saying a lot of stuff last night about not being around all the time, admitting to herself she probably could have paid a _little _bit closer attention before drifting off, and it was a relief to see he hadn't gotten himself in a bad mood because of it. _'Hopefully he won't be so difficult to talk to now that he has all that out of the way. Boy, I hope I didn't miss anything important before I fell asleep…'_

Out loud she said, "I've got some much work to do tonight, I'll probably have to skip dinner to get it all done."

"Somehow, I can't picture you skipping dinner…"

"Don't be rude!"

"I'm not."

"You were too. You were implying I eat a lot."

"There you go reading into things again. All I said was I couldn't picture a glutton like you missing a meal. That's all."

Kagome stopped in her tracks, jaw dropping. _'Did he just…'_

"You jerk!" she yelled when he started chuckling at her expression of outrage.

"You should have seen your face," he manages between laughs.

Kagome just gave an indignant huff and started walking again, her footsteps pounding on the sidewalk as she pictured a certain hanyou's face under her heel. Still snickering slightly, Inuyasha followed.

* * *

Homework was taking just as long as Kagome predicted, though she didn't skip dinner as Inuyasha had so observantly pointed out. After four straight hours of reports and dissecting sentences though, she felt she deserved a break. Algebra would have to wait until after dinner and a bath. Unfortunately for her the equations didn't get any easier when she was full and clean. 

"Aaarg!" she cried, pounding on her math book in frustration. "Make sense already!" Just when she would think she had the answer right to a problem, she would try to put the answer she had found for X back into the equation and it wouldn't work. "I hate you!" Upon this declaration she dropped her head down to her desk and on top of the book with a thump. "Math sucks."

"You just have to know how to do the steps properly and in the right order. You're doing them all wrong."

Kagome lifted her head from the book a few inches. "Since when did you know so much about algebra?"

"One of us actually pays attention in class."

She blushed at this. Had he caught her gazing out the window during class? Wait a minute, who was she kidding, of course he had. "I pay attention… It's just hard to understand sometimes."

"Once you get the basic order of things, it goes a lot easier. Here, I'll show you how if you want."

"You...you'd help me with my homework?" she asked, a little stunned.

"Yeah well, it's not a big deal or anything alright. I just can't stand your whining anymore." He sounded gruff when he said it, but she would bet anything that if she could see him, he would be blushing.

"Alright then."

"Okay," his voice was coming from over her shoulder now. "First thing you need to remember is to always do the parts in the parentheses first."

Inuyasha explained the steps to her slowly, helping her when she got stuck and pointing out mistakes she made along the way. He wasn't always the most patient of teachers with her, but he clarified things in a no nonsense way. By the time she finished, she couldn't say she exactly understood what she was doing, but she did know what she had been doing wrong and how to fix it in the future.

"Thanks, Inuyasha, you were a big help."

"Whatever, you should get to bed now."

Realizing how late it was, she suddenly gave a huge yawn. "You're right." She pushed back from the desk and stood up, grabbing all her books and papers and arranging them in her backpack to be ready for the next day. Just in case. Making sure everything was ready, she set her alarm clock and turned off her light.

"Good night Inuyasha."

"Good night Kagome."

He was expecting it this time, so when her voice rang out in the dark a few minutes later he was actually smiling a little.

"Inuyasha?"

"_Yes_ Kagome?"

He could hear the sheepish grin in her voice when she spoke again. "Sorry, but I was wondering how you knew so much about math. And don't tell me from paying attention in class either. Mr. Takashi isn't _that _good a teacher."

"You're more observant than I thought. You're right, I don't pay attention during your class, I lied."

"I Figured. So?"

"I guarded a tenth grade algebra teacher for nine months. Even _you_ would be able to pick it up after that long."

"Hey!"

"Just kidding, just kidding! Watch where you're swinging that thing!"

"What? You mean I wasn't way off that time?" she said taking another swipe at him with her pillow.

"Okay, I'm sorry! Stop waving that thing around already, before you knock my head off."

"That would be an accomplishment worth bragging about." But she ceased her swinging anyways, settling the pillow back beneath her head.

"Now go to sleep."

"Okay, good night."

"Good night."

He knew better though. As soon as she took a breath two minutes later he said, "Good _night _Kagome."

The only response he got was a loud exhale of breath and the sounds of Kagome rolling to face the wall somewhat roughly.

* * *

She was in the forest again, this time sitting on the side of the well in the clearing. As she gazed around at her surrounding, she saw what she hadn't the last time. Her tree. The God Tree from the shrine. Suddenly feeling as though this is what she had been looking for the last time, she jumped down from the well and headed into the forest. She was nearly to the tree when she heard the same voice call out as before. 

"Inuyasha!"

Once more she turned and saw the girl priestess that looked like her. She looked to be in a lot of pain as she raised her bow and pointed it to the side. "Die…Inuyasha!"

Slowly, as if in a bad dream (which it was, so it fit) she turned to see where the arrow was pointed. There she saw him, clutching something in his hand and staring toward the priestess with a shocked look on his face. The girl let loose her arrow, aiming straight into Inuyasha's heart.

Kagome's own heart stopped for a second, just before she cried out a warning that came to late. "No! Inuyasha!"

He tried to leap out of the way, but the arrow soared to its mark with unwavering accuracy. The arrow struck, pinning him to the tree.

Then her world went dark.

* * *

AN- :-) 

(Q and A)- I'm receiving several questions at a time now, so I'll just answer them at the bottom as I get them. Feel free to ask more. You can look for your name if you asked something, and if I've left someone out, it isn't on purpose so just email me again (is this just a ploy to get another review? Damn they're on to me…) and I'll answer in the next chapter.

Q. **Kawaiinu**- Are you really 23?

A..Yes… I feel so old now…

Q. **Chixon**- Was Inuyasha having hentai thoughts at the end there?

A. Only the good kind. LMAO at the rolled up newspaper…

Q. **Animewriter13**- Will Kagome ever go through the well and see Inuyasha in his own time?

A. I demand you get out of my head this instant or I will start charging rent.

Q. **pwalefriend**- Is Kikyo going to be in this story later? And what about Sango, Miroku, Shippou, Naraku, Sesshomaru, and all the other guys? And what about Kouga or Houjo?

A. Highly doubtful unless I make this story very long. Although they might be in a sequel…

Q. **InU-DragoN-Girl**- Can Kagome see Inuyasha now?

A. Only at the well and the sacred tree, the hint being that she can only see him when he is in contact with something connected to his time.

That's all I think.

Bye for now.


	13. Insight

Disclaimer- I do not own Inuyasha, I am only using the characters for my own personal amusement. (Not like that, hentai!)

AN- This chapter will (hopefully) make a few things clearer. On with the show!

Insight

Her heartbeat was coming a little too loud and fast for his liking. He knew she was probably just having a nightmare, but he couldn't help but want to wake her anyways, just to make sure she was okay. Suddenly her heart gave an almost imperceptible pause before picking up even faster, frightening him. He was reaching to wake her up, hand already on her shoulder, when Kagome abruptly opened her eyes with a gasp.

"Inuyasha!"

Startled, he jerked back and fell to the floor from his perch on the side of the bed. "What? I didn't do it!"

Kagome hadn't heard him though. She was still half asleep and was only now getting rid of most of the fog in her brain. Sitting up on one elbow, she pressed a hand to her racing heart. _'What happened? I feel so scared… I must have had a nightmare or something.' _She tried to remember what had upset her enough to wake her in the middle of the night, but couldn't come up with more than a vague memory of a forest. _'How weird…'_ Glancing at her alarm clock, she could see her glow-in-the-dark hands pointing to quarter after three. Kagome gave a little sigh as she flopped back down to the mattress, hoping she would be able to go back to sleep. The thought had only just left her brain, when she began to drift off once more.

Inuyasha watched her without speaking for a while. Sure that she was deeply asleep and having pleasant dreams this time (judging from the tiny smile on her mouth), Inuyasha sat on the edge of her bed once more and absently brushed a lock of hair from her forehead. What had made her so scared as to wake up and call out for him? Would she tell him if he asked? Did he even want to know the answer? Finding no answers in his own head, he contented himself to watching Kagome's now peaceful face for the rest of the night.

* * *

She arrived to school on time the next morning, and had actually woken up in a good mood when her alarm went off. The small amount of recollection she'd had from her dream had flitted away, along with any knowledge that she had woken at all in the middle of the night. The teachers were merciless as usual and as she walked home from school that afternoon, she felt as though her back might snap in two from all the books she was dragging home. 

"Uhg, if they're going to give us so much to bring home, they could at least make the books a little lighter," Kagome grunted as she adjusted her backpack once more on her shoulders to keep it from digging in so much. The bag unexpectedly lifted a fraction of an inch, relieving her sore shoulders from most of the burden.

"Oh, wow…thanks Inuyasha!"

"Yeah, well if you walk any slower we're gonna start going backwards." Resisting the urge to tease him a little for his kindness, but knowing he would drop the bag right back on her shoulders if she did, she picked up her pace so he would be happy.

"You know, you've been awfully quiet today."

"What are you talking about? I'm always quiet when you're in classes."

Kagome nodded her head in agreement. "I know. That's not what I meant though. This morning…I don't know… You seemed less talkative than normal."

"We already covered the fact that I'm not a chatterbox like you."

She laughed a bit at that, trying to picture Inuyasha as a 'chatterbox' and failing miserably. "Okay, okay. Forget I said anything." And she continued home in amiable silence. Inuyasha however, was thinking over what she had said. It was true; he had been a bit lost in thought this morning and had not spoken with her as much as he usually did. He really hadn't thought she would have noticed though. Of course, her power of observation had surprised him before, so maybe it wasn't that odd she had picked up on the lack of conversation. As long as she didn't wonder what he was thinking of to make him so quiet, he really didn't care either way.

And that is what he was repeating to himself over and over as they reached the shrine step and started into the courtyard. He didn't care. He didn't care what she thought. He didn't care if she liked talking to him enough to notice his quietness. He didn't care if he wished he _could_ tell her what was on his mind. He didn't care that he knew she would listen to him and not judge. He didn't care about her. And _that_, he realized with a pang, was the biggest lie he had ever told himself. He watched Kagome wave to her grandfather, who was selling charms to a couple near the door to the temple. When had this girl slipped under his defenses? All the years he had spent in other people company, he had never let himself become attached to them. He had learned his lesson after the first one...

* * *

His first venture into Guardianship had been an older woman with three children and another on the way. After the first few weeks of not knowing what the hell had happened to him and refusing to except his fate, he had come to realize there was probably no way out of this other than to go with it and hope it wore off soon. The woman, Sumika, was quiet and calm, with an average face and figure. And just like any other woman he had ever come across. He couldn't understand why he had been sent to her home of all places. Actually he hadn't understood a lot of things. 

Sumika's husband was an idiot. He drank too much and was a worthless waste of space in Inuyasha's opinion. He longed to beat the shit out of the bumbling moron, but though he had tried on many occasions to do just that, he could never manage to do anything more than give himself a massive headache. Except on one night that, even now, he remembered with malicious satisfaction. Two months after he had opened his eyes to find himself outside a small shabby looking hut, the husband had come home drunker than usual one night. The children were in bed and Sumika was waiting with dinner prepared as a good wife did. Inuyasha knew for a fact Sumika was an excellent cook, (his nose never lied to him) but for some reason it wasn't good enough for the waste-of-breath that was married to her. The fool threw his bowl on the floor and yelled stupidly at his wife for being useless. By this time Inuyasha was digging his claws into his palms and gritting his teeth in an effort to restrain himself from going after the idiot and ending up with another migraine. Unfortunately Sumika's husband wasn't finished. He reached over and grabbed her arm, jerking her over to him, and then proceeded to hit her in the face. Repeatedly. Inuyasha saw red. Rushing over to the pair and not caring if he got the worst headache in the world because of it, he concentrated as hard as he could to seize her husband. He could feel the man's shirt bunch in his hand as he grabbed him. In one swift motion, he yanked the man from his wife and threw him into the wall across the room, knocking everything over on the way and causing everything on the shelves to come crashing to the ground. He stood, stunned for a minute, before grinning evilly and making his way over to the now unconscious form of the man. But sadly, whatever had allowed him to toss Sumika's husband ten feet across a room would not allow him to touch him now that he was no longer a threat. Shame that.

From that day on, the man had given his wife a lot more time to herself. Probably thinking it had been her that tossed him into the wall. Inuyasha learned a few things over the course of his stay in the little hut. He could freely touch anyone as long as he intended no harm. He could move things and, he was glad to see, his strength was the same as it had always been. No one could see or hear him, though animals gave him a wide berth. Children drove him crazy. He never got hungry, though he could taste and eat things just as well as before. All of his senses worked perfectly, though sometimes that was not exactly a blessing in such a small house. If he tried to leave, he became overcome with pain. It would start out as a slight pulling feeling from his chest area, almost like a little reminder not to get too far away. If he ignored the feeling, it would grow to an ache, and then slowly into a sharp cramping sensation, as if someone were squeezing him from the inside. Though he almost passed out from just that, he once tested the range to see how far away he could get. Around fifty feet or so, it began to feel as though his entire body was simultaneously being crushed and burned from the inside out. Needless to say, he hadn't repeated the experiment.

So other than the fact that he was invisible and mute to the world, he felt that he was more or less just as he had been before he died. That and how he seemed to be like a dog on the world most painful leash. Was he really dead at all then? He would know if he was a ghost or a spirit wouldn't he? He seemed solid enough, but maybe it was just how ghosts felt? He still hadn't figured out if he was truly dead or not, but had figured eventually that he may as well have been.

Life continued for Sumika as it always did. He began to accustom himself to her quiet life of being a mother and wife, though he longed to be able to run away into the forest outside her home. Many days he would find himself speaking to her as though she could hear him. Eventually he found himself liking her a little. She was a human, and she wasn't special in any way at all, but her lovingness with her children and her patients and calm ways made him think that perhaps she wasn't such a bad person to know. Sumika had become pregnant in the time he had been there (thank the gods he had been able to at least leave the house when _that_ happened) and soon came the day when she was to give birth. It seemed to Inuyasha that she was in a lot more pain that should have been necessary, but the mid-wife was encouraging and though he hated seeing any woman in pain and especially someone as nice as Sumika, he had to content himself to pacing the room as she groaned in agony on the floor mat. He was sure something was going wrong even before the mid-wife's encouragement and helpful words died away. His inner radar that warned him when she was in danger was going off alarmingly, but he couldn't think of anything that he might be able to do. He kneeled, instead, next to her anguished form, ignoring the smell of blood, and laid his hand on top of hers, trying to give her his own silent strength. Some time later, she gave one final mighty push and a minute later the sound of tiny cries filled the air. Instead of giving her congratulations though, the mid-wife simply cut the baby from its mother and wrapped up the small child before laying her on Sumika's stomach and looking down at her with sad eyes. Inuyasha couldn't think of what the problem was and why she hadn't told her what her baby was or asked what name she had chosen. Soon though, the smell he had been ignoring assaulted his nose full force. Blood, and lots of it. It clicked in his mind then, that no one could bleed so much and live, not even during childbirth. A cold feeling washed over him. He could now see the color leaving Sumika's face rapidly and her arms that had been wrapped lightly around the baby began to droop. The mid-wife gently lifted the baby away from its mother as the last light from her eyes faded and her empty arms slipped to the floor.

Inuyasha's last, uncomprehending thought before slipping into dreamless sleep was, _'She didn't even know it was a girl…'_

* * *

It had only seemed like a moment had passed when he opened his eyes again, to find himself outside a new home and feeling the familiar tug towards a new human. His mind reeled at the unfairness of it all and his heart ached for the loss of such a kind soul as Sumika. It wasn't until much later he found out several decades had passed since he was last awake. The passage of time had confused him at first, but after the fourth or fifth time of guarding, he began to just ignore it. Time didn't really have meaning to him anymore. 

Each instance before he woke to protect someone new, he always heard the same voice. "Awaken, Guardian." And he would open his eyes to find himself being pulled toward some new, random person. He had kept his distance from them though, he no longer talked to them as if they were having a conversation and he didn't laugh at the antics of children any more. If he saw a tender family moment, he turned his back and pretended he was somewhere else. It wasn't hard really. He wasn't actually a part of there lives anyways. It seemed to him that each time he left before falling asleep, he had made no noticeable difference in anyone's life, so what was to decide when he was done or not? Obviously if they died he was no longer needed, but what about the others? It was random and confusing at best and Inuyasha was getting sick of it all.

And then he found Kagome.

* * *

Inuyasha was shaken from his mental meanderings by a loud thump. 

"Done!"

The thump had been Kagome slamming shut her language book. Now she leaned back in her chair with a happy grin on her face. "That went a lot faster than I thought it would. Look, it's still light out." She pointed to the low hanging sun, partially visible through the curtains. She rolled her head on her shoulders, trying to work out some of the stiffness, then jumped up and headed for the door.

"Let's go for a walk around the yard and watch the sun set before dinner. I need to stretch my legs." Not waiting for a reply, she opened the door and started down the hall. On her way out the door, she stopped by the kitchen and yelled to her mother that she saw going for a quick walk.

"Okay honey, don't be too long."

"I won't mom." And she skipped to the door, squinting a little in the evening sunlight as she slid open the door.

Their pace was slow as they made their way around the yard. When they were only halfway towards the front, Kagome stopped and leaned against the fence around the main shrine, her back to the temple. She just stood there for a few minutes, letting the warmth from the sun sink into her skin and letting the breeze play with her hair. Inuyasha had never seen someone look so peaceful. So naturally he had to say something to snap her out of it.

"If you're waiting for me to say something, don't bother. I just don't feel like talking today."

A smile quirked he lips. "Actually I wasn't waiting for you to speak; I just wanted to enjoy the view for a minute. And by the way, you're the one who talked first and that means you obviously felt like saying something."

"No it doesn't"

"Sure it does. People don't just say that they don't feel like talking, out of the blue, unless they really _do_ want to say something."

"That's not always true…"

She shrugged. "Maybe. But it's true this time." And when there came no response, she knew she had been right. He had just been too quiet lately. Something was on his mind and she was dying to know what. It had taken more will power than she cared to admit to keep from asking him, several time during the day, what was wrong. He was stubborn and she knew he would have just told her to bug off. Though it probably wouldn't have come out quite that nice. But as stubborn as she knew he was, she also knew he was impatient and if she kept quiet long enough, he would eventually say something. Or not. It was a risk she was willing to take though. She hated the idea that she might not be able to lift him out of whatever funk he had himself in, but she was willing to try at least.

"So…" she started, hoping he would follow up.

"So, what?"

Okay, obviously he couldn't take a hint. She tried another tactic. "You know, when I'm feeling sad, it helps me to talk to someone about it. My mom always says that a burden shared between two people will weigh half as much as it would with just one person. She isn't just talking about backpacks either Inuyasha…" Kagome trailed off quietly and waited for him to say something.

"I know you're just trying to be your irritatingly helpful self, but this is _my_ backpack and I _want_ to carry it by myself. Just leave me alone already." His voice wasn't exactly angry, but it had an edge to it that said if she continued to push the subject, anger wouldn't be far off.

Kagome let it drop for now, determined to pick it up at another time. Looking around the yard in search of something else to talk about, Kagome spotted a mound of fur curled up in a patch of dying sunlight. "Buyo, you lazy kitty!" She walked over to the calico and scooped him up with both hands, cuddling him to her face before settling him into her arms. "What are you doing out here? It's almost dinnertime." The cat's ears twitched slightly at the mention of dinner and he gave a little flick of his tail. Inuyasha watched as she scratched the chubby cat's chin and ears, cooing all kinds of nonsense and hugging it to her chest. He didn't know whether to be disgusted or amused.

"You spoil that cat too much."

Kagome continued scratching the feline's stomach as she replied. "No I don't." And here she changed her voice into that high pitched tone that parents take with very young babies. "He's a good kitty-witty cat, isn't he? Yes you are, my sweet little Buyo-chan. Who's a cute kitty? Huh? Who's the cutest little kitty in the whole wide world?"

"Damn, I think I'm going to be sick…"

Kagome grinned as she twirled around in a circle with the cat in her arms. "Buyo! Buyo! My precious kitty Buyo!"

Inuyasha just shook his head and smiled. He knew what she was trying to do and he appreciated it. "Come on Kagome, put the cat down before it throws up on you."

Kagome stopped her twirling at his notably lighter remark. Feigning dizziness, she dropped to her butt and flopped onto her back with the now squirming cat still in her arms. "Give me a minute."

"I'll give you all the time you want. Buyo's the one who gonna hurl on you."

"Nah, we do this all the time, he's fine."

"All the time? Man do I feel sorry for that cat."

Sitting up, Kagome grinned in his direction. "Oh come on, you know you're jealous. You're just dying for me to scratch your ears aren't you?"

"Feh, whatever. I think you're confusing who wants to scratch my ears wench. And I told you already to stay away from them, so don't go trying anything sneaky."

Kagome put an innocent and hurt expression on, pressing a hand to her heart. "You wound me sir, I would never dream of sneaking up on you when you least expect it, tackling you to the ground and tweaking your ears til you beg for mercy. I'm surprised you would even say such a thing."

"Uh-huh. Get off the ground, it's time to go inside."

Kagome obediently removed herself from the ground with Buyo still tucked in her arms, though it took a minute to get up with the cat weighing her down. When she stood up she glanced over to the now setting sun. "Now even _you_ have to admit that's a beautiful sunset."

Looking over at the lovely array of colors splashed across the sky, he had to agree, it did look nice. But it wasn't until he looked back at Kagome's face with the rosy colors reflected on her features that he said in agreement, "Beautiful."

* * *

AN- A little fluffiness at the end to take away from the depressing nature of the rest. I really liked this chapter myself, so I hope you guys enjoy it too. 

Q and A

Q. **kuroi ryu yuri**- Will she tell Inuyasha her dream in the next chapter?

A. So far she hasn't remembered her dreams, but later on she will.

Q. **Inuyasha-craver**- When are you going to make Inuyasha and Kagome hook up?

A. Patients, grasshopper…

Q. **angel-tears-16**- How are you going to tie that all in? Any particular way? Does that have something to do with the curse?

A. Not sure, not really, totally

Q. **NekoYasha101**- Is Kagome going to go to Inuyasha's time and set him free, taking the curse off him and setting him free?

A. That…is why you must keep reading. (Insert evil smile.)

Bye for now.


	14. New Moon

Disclaimer- Wonderful news! Rumiko Takahashi has signed over the copyright for Inuyasha to me. Hey, wait a minute… This hasn't been notarized! Damn you Rumiko!

AN- Um… I seem to have run out of witty things to say…

New Moon

She had been dreaming about giant arithmetic books chasing her around the shrine when her alarm woke her the next morning. For once glad to be brought out of sleep, Kagome immediately pushed back her covers and hopped out of bed. Stretching her arms out wide, she gave a loud yawn.

"I had the most horrible dream last night."

"Let me guess. You were being attacked by various school books and were forced to memorize dozens formulas and theories."

"…"

"What? I told you that you talk in your sleep. You're so weird. Who has nightmares about math books?"

"I would say just about every person at school right about now." Kagome walked over to her desk and poked one of the books still laying on top, as if to make sure it wasn't planning on jumping out at her. "I'll be glad when finals are over."

"So will I. Maybe you'll stop yammering so much in the middle of the night."

Kagome blushed slightly at this. "I can't help it."

"Feh, I'm just glad I don't need to sleep, otherwise you would be keeping me up all the time."

She crossed her arms over her stomach and huffed, "Well you _don't_ need to sleep, so it doesn't matter anyways. Now leave me alone."

For a second Inuyasha thought she was mad at him again, but then realized she just wanted to get dressed, so walked across the room and turned his back to her. "Fine."

He blamed her stupid dream for what happened next. It was only because he was wondering how on earth anyone could be intimidated by a stack of bound papers that he forgot why he was facing the door. And so naturally when she said his name, he turned around. And was greeted the most beautiful and mortifying sight in the world. She was saying something, or perhaps asking something, but his brain wasn't registering anything other than the sound of his own blood rushing in his ears as he gawked at the scene in front of him. Kagome was butt naked, standing in front of him sifting through her underwear drawer. She had pulled out a pair and pulled them on (somewhere in the back of his head he noted they had little purple flowers on them this time) before he fully realized what he was doing. Spinning back around so fast he almost fell over his feet, Inuyasha felt his face blaze in embarrassment. Knowing he had acted like a complete pervert in gaping at her like that without her knowledge, all he wanted to do was bang his head against a wall. But then she would wonder about the sound. Doing the next best thing, he sank to the floor with his legs crossed and proceeded to punch himself in he head repeatedly, if only to beat out the image of her body from his mind. As if he needed _that_ image running through his head at all hours of the day. Not that it was a bad image though, in fact, it was a pretty damn good image- Dammit! There it was again.

But of course, short of physically removing part of his brain, he was stuck with seeing her nakedness every time he closed his eyes. Hopefully this after effect would wear off though. Huh? Uh-oh she was talking to him again. What had she been saying? He couldn't remember. Maybe he should say something before she became suspicious.

"Er…"

Well _that_ was fucking brilliant.

"Have you heard a word I've been saying Inuyasha? You seem like a million miles away."

"Uh, yeah. I mean no. I mean…I haven't been listening. I was, um, thinking." God that sounded so fake. She was going to see right through it!

"Oh, alright."

Or not.

"I'm ready, let's go get some breakfast."

"Sure."

Kagome grabbed her backpack and headed to the door, wondering why Inuyasha sounded so strange. He was probably just being moody again though. She would just have to leave him be for now and hope he came out of it later.

* * *

Walking home from school that afternoon, Kagome decided she would need to invest in a wagon to start helping her haul home all her books. Today she not only had a full backpack, but she was also carrying two books and a folder in her arms. Granted, the reason her bag was so full this time was because she was bringing home two sets of gyms clothes that needed to be washed, but still. A wagon would have been helpful. Though it might have looked a tad dorky. On second thought, she would probably just rather suffer with the books herself. 

The entire walk home had been in silence, but instead of the brooding atmosphere she had got from him the day before, Kagome had the feeing that now she was just being avoided. It was almost as if he was embarrassed about something. She couldn't think of anything he had said that he would be embarrassed about though. Maybe it was something _she_ had said? Kagome scrunched her forehead in concentration. Now what was the last thing she had been talking about before he stopped using complete sentences with her? Let's see. She had woken up this morning and he was in his usual grumpy mood. She had been talking about the oddness of her dreams lately and how sometimes she really couldn't remember anything and other times it seemed as though she couldn't get them out of her head. Nothing out of the ordinary there, she was always babbling away in the morning. Of course he hadn't been listening to her anyways, but he had already told her that. Then they had gone downstairs and she had eaten breakfast with her family. It had been her favorite, omelets and orange rice, and she had eaten her fill before leaving for school.

Oh. That must have been it. He was always telling her what a glutton she was for eating so much. Maybe he was finally just disgusted with her eating habits. She glanced down briefly to her stomach and frowned slightly. It wasn't like she was fat or anything. She had always been able to eat as much as she wanted with out gaining a lot of weight. Though lately she had put on a couple pounds. Her mother had told her that was just because she was growing up and starting to fill out more and Kagome had believed her, but… She gave her side a little pinch, feeling her skin between her fingers. Felt the same as always. But maybe she wouldn't be able to notice right away if she were putting on weight? That had to be the reason he was avoiding her. He must be able to see a difference and was thinking what a pig she was. Now Kagome felt her face fall completely. He was embarrassed by her; that was why he refused to speak. _'I guess I would be embarrassed of me too, if I were in his position. I'll have to start watching what I eat more often.'_ Her face set itself into a determined expression as she amended to start eating more conservatively, starting tonight.

Inuyasha glanced over to Kagome for the third time in the last five minutes. Now her face had lost its sad frown and was set in resolve. What the hell could she be thinking of over there? First she had looked thoughtful, then as if she were trying to remember something which changed to enlightenment as she figured it out, then she had frowned and looked at her stomach, giving her side a pinch a minute later, she had looked almost ready to cry a second after that and he had just been about to ask her what the problem was when she had suddenly fixed her expression into one of sheer determination. It was just plain confusing trying to keep up with her emotions sometimes…

* * *

Dinner looked wonderful as always, but instead of loading up her plate as she usually did, Kagome look as little as possible and began eating with tiny bites. It was frustrating to say the least. Unfortunately, someone _would_ have to notice the change in her eating pattern. 

"Kagome sweetie, don't you like your fish?"

Kagome looked up at her mother's voice. "Oh yeah mom, it's great. I'm just, um, not very hungry tonight." At this her stomach gave a small growl, as if in disagreement.

Everyone stopped for a second and just looked at her.

Flushing slightly, she huffed, "What? Is that such a shock?"

As one, her family nodded their heads. Feeling a little betrayed, Kagome just pushed back from the table and said stiffly, "Well it's true, so excuse me; I have to do my homework." Stacking her dishes, she left, leaving behind three slightly confused Higurashi.

Her grandfather was the first to speak. "Did Kagome just skip dinner so she could do her homework?"

Souta nodded his head slowly. "I…I think she did."

"Now guys, leave Kagome alone. It's not really that strange is it?"

Mrs. Higurashi's only response was two upraised eyebrows from each male. She gave a small laugh. "Okay, silly question."

* * *

'_Hmph! Even my own family thinks I eat a lot.'_ Well she would show them! She could eat just like everyone else. If she had to. Did she really have to? She thought of Inuyasha ignoring her all day because she had made a pig of herself that morning. She hated the idea of him thinking so poorly of her. It really shouldn't matter what anyone else thought of her, but… She envisioned his possible look of revulsion every time she sat down to eat and decided it would be worth missing a couple meals to keep Inuyasha from thinking she was a total cow. 

Unfortunately her stomach was not connected to her brain and was having no involvement what so ever in her little pity party. It growled so loudly as she sat down at her desk, she was afraid her family would hear it all the way downstairs. _'Oh shut up you.'_

"What the hell was that all about?"

Oops. Of course Inuyasha would have heard her stomach. "Nothing. I just don't feel like eating." Gurgle, gurgle. Stupid, insubordinate stomach.

"Bull shit."

"Just drop it Inuyasha."

"No, tell me why you've suddenly decided to start starving yourself."

Kagome gripped the front of her desk tightly, trying to get her temper under control. Why did he have to be so damn persistent? Despite her best efforts, she could still feel her eyebrow twitching in irritation as she answered. "I told you, I just don't feel like it okay? I would have thought you'd be happy to see me stop making a glutton of myself for one night."

A snort. "Whatever. Fine, be stubborn about it."

"I will."

"I know."

Why did always have to get the last word in? Stupid jerk. Kagome grabbed her backpack off the floor and pulled it into her lap. She rooted through it until she found the book she was looking for. Dropping her bag back to the floor she settled into her chair and opened the book to get started on her assignment. She was only half way through it, however, when she began to get frustrated by the equations in front of her. Besides making her grouchy, being hungry also made her lose her concentration easily. Sighing in defeat, she slumped over until her forehead was resting on the math book in front of her.

"Would you like me to help you?"

Kagome lifted her head in surprise. He was offering to help her again? She blushed slightly as she said, "That would be nice. Thank you."

Inuyasha stood up from her bed he had been lounging on. He walked to the desk and leaned over her shoulder to get a better look at what she was doing. Linear equations. Piece of cake. He suddenly stiffened as he felt a slight tug on his hair. He looked down to see Kagome holding a lock of his hair in her hand and examining it with a curious expression on her face. No wait, she wasn't examining his hair, she was looking at her hand. Apparently she could feel it, but couldn't see what it was. She gave another experimental tug.

"Hey! Cut that out already!" It hadn't hurt, but he was beginning to feel funny with her touching his hair so freely. Kagome hunched her shoulder guiltily and muttered an apology, but didn't release the locks in her palm. Now what was she doing? She began to run her other hand over top of her palm and then brought his hair up to her face and rubbed it against her cheek. That was it. Blushing furiously, he yanked his hair out of her hand and backed away from the desk. She gave a tiny sigh if disappointment.

"Your hair is so soft."

"Gee thanks. If you're finishes petting me, we could start on doing some actual work." Dammit why couldn't he stop blushing? It was only hair.

She grinned mischievously. "And if I'm not?"

"Believe me, you are."

The little tease just smiled and gave a shrug that could have meant anything. He didn't trust her for a second, but went back over to her anyways.

They began working on her equations, slowly going through the steps as they had last time. It was only a matter of time before he felt an almost imperceptible tug on his hair. He glanced down, but Kagome was staring at her paper in concentration. One hand writing down numbers, while the other played distractedly with a lock of her own hair. Okay, so that had been an accident. A few minutes later he felt it again, but his time she was only using her fingers to count something and they had become slightly interwoven with his hair. The third time, he began to catch on. She had made as if to sweep back her own hair with her left hand and had accidentally managed to grab some of his as well. Or at least it had _seemed_ to be by accident. He thought she had perhaps stretched her arm out a little to far to just be tossing her hair behind her back. So that was her game was it? Okay, he would play.

Kagome finished a problem and leaned back in her chair to stretch her arms out. Now where was it? Ah there, a little more to the left. Continuing her stretch, she leaned slightly to the left and reached her hand out a little more. Almost there. She leaned out a bit further, but still couldn't quite reach it. Oh well. She brought her arms back down and picked up her pencil again, unaware of the hanyou standing just out of range, trying very hard not to laugh.

Try as she might, for the next half hour Kagome could not manage run her fingers through Inuyasha's hair again. It was always just out of reach, and she couldn't exactly ask him to stand a little closer so she could _accidentally_ touch it. As she finished the last equation by herself, Kagome idly reached over with her left hand to grab her piece of scrap paper. Ah, there it was again. Her hand tilted a little higher, then a little more, and even more until…

"Uh, Kagome?"

"Hmm?"

"What are you doing?"

"Huh?" Kagome glanced to her left and realized her hand had wandered halfway over her head and was nowhere near the paper she had been pretending to reach for in the first place. Oops. The gig was up.

"If you had spent half as much time actually working as you did trying to play with my hair, you would have been done a long time ago."

He had noticed? He jaw dropped slightly. How had he noticed? She hadn't been obvious at all. At least she hadn't thought she was being obvious. Cocky dog-eared bully. He had probably been teasing her this entire time. Man did she feel foolish.

Instead of admitting to it though, she closed her mouth with a snap and said, "I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about."

Inuyasha laughed at her indignant expression. "I'm sure you don't, you sneaky wench. Thought you could pull one over on me?"

Kagome just blushed. Turning back to her homework, she quickly finished off her last problem and then packed away everything in her bag. Her stomach gave a mighty complaint as she stood up. She could tell this was going to get old very quickly. Who the heck could live off of half of a piece of fish a night? She looked out the window to the dim light of the almost set sun and decided there was still enough light to walk around the shrine at least once. Maybe it would take her mind off her empty belly. With out a word she left the room and trotted into the hall, down the stairs and out the front door.

* * *

The sun had just dipped below the horizon as she started to walk around the courtyard. It was only the beginning of March and the nights were still somewhat cool. As a breeze swept by Kagome shivered a little, wishing she had brought a sweater. 

She picked up her pace a little to keep from getting cold, unconsciously heading towards the God Tree. She gazed up at the sky as she walked and remembered that tonight was a new moon, so shortly, there would be very little light to see by. Her thoughts wandered a little as she reached the bench by the sacred tree and sat down. Unfortunately, the bench was made of stone and only served to make her rear end go numb. It was a small price to pay however, for the peace she felt sitting next to her favorite tree. It was a shame that the same calming effect it had on her mind didn't extend to her stomach. As it gave yet another rumble of neglect, she leaned forward to rest her elbows on her knees and settled her chin in her hands.

"Okay wench, what the hell is wrong with you? I can hear your belly moaning from over hear, so obviously you _are_ hungry despite what you say."

Kagome rolled her eyes in annoyance. Why couldn't he just leave it alone? And why couldn't he make up his mind? First she ate too much, and now she wasn't eating enough. "I don't care what my belly says, I'm not hungry." Liar, liar!

"You really are brainless if you don't even know when you're hungry or not. Why don't you just go eat something before you pass out or something? I don't want to have to drag your ass back into the house."

"Gee I would hate to have to make you carry something so heavy." Was that _her_ sarcasm she heard? He must be rubbing off on her.

"Feh, a sack of bones like you? A three year old wouldn't have trouble carrying your ass."

"Huh? I thought you said I was a glutton."

"I say a lot of things."

"But…what….why…" Kagome lifted her head from her hands. Wait, if he didn't think she ate too much…

"Is _that_ why you refuse to eat?" he asked incredulously.

"Well…" Kagome felt her cheeks heat slightly, "Yeah kind of."

"…" She wasn't eating because she thought he said she was fat? Dear God…women…

Suddenly he was laughing like he had never laughed before. It was too funny really. She thought she was fat. Kagome, one of the trimmest, most slender women he had ever met, thought she was fat because of something he said. Surely girls weren't really that insecure… Too funny.

"It isn't funny!"

"Yes… it is!" he managed to get out between gasping for breaths.

"What exactly makes this so hilarious!" She was standing with her hand on her hips. It was almost completely dark now, but he could still see the look of outrage on her features.

"You…you're so damn…skinny!"

Kagome looked down at her body. Skinny? Was that better than being called a glutton? She thought for a second. _'Yeah, I guess it is. At least now I can eat.'_

"Kagome, you are too much sometimes. Why the hell would you listen too me when you can obviously see you look fine?"

She shrugged her shoulders at that and looked at the ground. "I dunno. You were just acting so strange after breakfast this morning. I thought maybe you were embarrassed by how I ate."

"Acting strange this morning…" Inuyasha blushed as he realized what she meant. He had avoided talking to her to try and rid himself of her naked image in his head. Well at least she hadn't figured out the real reason for his silence. "Don't be stupid, I wasn't acting strange."

"Yes you were."

"No I wasn't!"

"Yes you …" Kagome stopped in mid rant. Why were they arguing over something so pointless? "Never mind. I don't care anymore." Kagome began walking back towards the house.

"Hey wait, where are you going?" He hoped she wasn't pissed off at him again. Instead of an angry reply though, Kagome grinned over her shoulder at him.

"I'm going to get something to eat. I'm starving!"

* * *

She was in the stupid forest again. She was beginning to hate waking up here. Not that it was a bad looking place or anything. On the contrary, it was actually quite a nice looking place and it would have also been a very peaceful place if she hadn't known what was about to happen. 

Suddenly there was a blur of red in front of her. The priestess again. No wait. It wasn't the priestess this time, but Inuyasha. He was running ahead of her. Without thinking, she began to run after him. Damn he was fast, but she had to reach him. She had to warn him. Running as fast as she could, she saw him a little ways ahead of her. Oh thank goodness, he had stopped for a minute to look at something in his hand. She had almost reached him and was just about to call out when she heard the girl's voice.

"Inuyasha!"

'_Nononono, not again. Please not again.'_

Her legs ran faster than they ever had before as she screamed out to him, "Look out Inuyasha! Run!"

The girl was lifting her bow again. No, not yet, she was almost there.

"Die Inuyasha!" And she released the arrow. As before, Inuyasha finally snapped out of his stupor and tried to jump out of the way. Too late. Always too late. She skidded to a stop just as he was pinned to the tree, only this time she was close enough to catch his last whispered breath.

"Kikyo…why…?"

The priestess stumbled over to Inuyasha, using her bow for support, and raised her hand to his forehead. Kagome tried to smack her way from him, but found her hand sailed right through the priestess's arm, as if she wasn't there. When she removed her hand, a small smear of blood was left behind.

As Inuyasha's eyes closed slowly, she heard the woman speak, her voice full of bitterness. "Die Inuyasha, and know that you will spend the rest of eternity protecting the same humans that you seem to hate so much. Die, and awaken…Guardian."

* * *

Kagome woke suddenly. She looked around at her surroundings, trying to gather her wits around her. It was still dark. A glance at her clock showed it was almost four in the morning. What had happened? Oh right, she was having a nightmare and she had woken up. It seemed familiar too, and it wasn't about flying algebra books this time. What was it though? Think. Wait, she had it. There had been a forest…and Inuyasha was there. He had been running…and then… 

And then she couldn't remember. She growled in frustration. It had been bad, that she could remember. In fact, her heart was still pounding in fear. Why couldn't she remember though? Wait! Now she remembered. Oh no. He had died, that was it. Oh God…

"Inuyasha?"

No response.

"Inuyasha!"

Still nothing.

"Stop kidding around! Where are you?"

Nothing but the snores of Buyo, who was sleeping on the end of her bed, oblivious to her distress.

Kagome jumped out of bed, frantic by now. Why wasn't he answering her? If he was playing some kind of joke, she was going to give him hell until the sun rose. But no, he would have seen she was serious and said something by now, wouldn't he have?

Knowing it wasn't going to help, but unable to stop herself, Kagome looked around her room for any sign of her hanyou protector. Her heart was beating so hard, she couldn't seem to hear anything else. Of course she saw nothing and began to worry immensely. Why wasn't he here? Surely he wasn't supposed to leave already. Kagome remembered something else from her dream suddenly. The God Tree. She had dreamed of her very own sacred tree. Praying to whatever sources were listening that this was some sort of sign, she raced out of her room. _'Please don't let this have been a premonition. Oh please let him be safe somewhere and not pinned to my tree with an arrow.'_

Kagome barely remembered to shut the front door behind her in her haste to reach the entrance to the shrine where the tree was located. Her bare feet pounded heavily against the cold earth, sharp stones digging painfully into her feet as she ran. The temperature had dropped rapidly during the night and now her breath came out in little white puffs when she exhaled. She could see the tree ahead in the almost complete darkness. As she got closer she could see a figure against the tree. He heart nearly jumped from her chest as she recognized the outline of Inuyasha's clothing. _He's not moving. Let him be okay, please let him be okay.'_

She finally reached the tree. Jumping over the little fence surrounding it, she stumbled the last few steps to Inuyasha's form. He hadn't moved an inch since she first spotted him, but she hadn't seen an arrow sticking from his chest, so she took that to be a good sign. She was about to lean and give him a small shake when she noticed something she had not seen in the darkness from so far away. His hair was black. And his ears were missing! Oh no, wait. There they were, only they were normal human ears now. She glanced down to his hands and sure enough, the claws were gone and replaced with normal fingernails just like hers. What had happened to him? Unable to take the suspense of knowing if he was still alive or not, Kagome reached out a hand and placed it on his chest over his heart.

A hand came up and grabbed her wrist. Gasping, she looked up to see Inuyasha's eyes had opened and he was glaring at her. She couldn't tell what color they were other than dark, but they definitely weren't the lovely golden shade they had been before.

As if suddenly realizing who she was, Inuyasha's glare turned to surprise as he looked at her.

"What the hell are you doing out here?"

She had been a bit taken aback by his appearance, but when he had questioned her in the same gruff voice as always, she felt a vast sense of relief course though her. She threw her arms around the surprised hanyou and clung to him fiercely.

"Er, Kagome?"

'_What the hell is this for?'_

"I'm so glad you're not dead."

Huh? Dead? Why would he be dead? And why the hell was she out in the yard at four o'clock in the morning when she should be asleep? Dammit, he leaves her for one night and she falls apart with out him. No, don't feel guilty about it. Oh for God's sake. There he went feeling guilty for leaving. He really hadn't wanted to, but this was the one night of the month where he could move as far away from his charge as he wanted with out feeling a shit load of pain. It would have been stupid of him to pass up his one night of quasi-freedom just because he didn't want to leave her side. She was asleep in her own home for goodness sake, what could possibly happen if he left for a couple hours? Apparently that was a very dumb question though, judging by the shaking girl still attached to him.

"Kagome. Kagome, what happened?" He tried to lead her back into reality, but she just shook her head against the front of his coat and mumbled something.

"I can't understand you, you'll have to let go of me."

She didn't let go, but she did raise her head from his chest to look him in the face. What the hell? Why was she crying? "Kagome…?"

Kagome sniffled a little and looked him in the eye. "I thought you were dead."

"Yeah, you already said something like that. Why would you think I was dead?"

Finally realizing how very close she was to him, she let go and backed up a few steps. He was a little sorry to feel her leave. But her next words made him straighten up and pay attention.

"I… I dreamed you had been shot by an arrow and had died. You were pinned to this tree and I thought… I mean, I wasn't sure if… if it was real or not." She looked at the ground when she finished, unsure of how Inuyasha might react to that.

Inuyasha looked behind him to the tree and then back at the girl in front of him. Of course. No wonder he felt such a familiarity from this tree. It was the same one he had been shot into all those years ago. It was a little morbid, that this was why he felt so connected to it, but at least now he knew why he got such a strange feeling every time he walked past it. But how in the world had _she_ known?

Kagome was beginning to shake once more and for a moment he thought she was crying again. _'She had been crying for **me**…'_ But then he understood it was simply the cold air and her lack of clothing that was making her shiver. The thin night shirt she was wearing was hardly sufficient for cold weather outings. Reaching over, he gently took her chin in his hands and said firmly, "I'm not dead Kagome. It was just a dream okay?" When she nodded he continued. "Good, now let's go inside before you freeze to death."

A questioning look came into her eyes and she glanced briefly at his hair before opening her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything he cut her off with a hand over her mouth.

"I promise to tell you whatever you want tomorrow, but right now you need to go inside and get to sleep." He paused for a second, unsure if it would work, then took off his coat and placed it over her shoulders. Apparently, she could feel it just fine from the grateful smile he received. Stepping away from the tree he grabbed he hand and helped her step over the fence.

"Thank you, Inuyasha."

"You're welcome, Kagome."

* * *

AN- So tired. Answers tomorrow. Bye for now. :-) 


	15. Sick Day

Disclaimer- I may be delusional, but not _that _delusional.

AN- This one seems to be a little on the long side…let's hope at least some of it is entertaining.

Sick Day

"Aaa…"

"Aaa…"

"Aaah-Choo!"

"Bless you."

"Danks."

Kagome reached beside her and plucked another tissue from the box laying on her nightstand. She blew her nose loudly before crumpling it up and dropping it into the trash can on the floor. Flopping her head back onto her pillow, she gave a little groan and closed her eyes.

"Shood me."

"It's your own fault. You should know better than to run out in the middle of the night wearing a t-shirt and no shoes when it's less than fifty degrees out."

"Well, excuse me if I didn'd dink do check de dermomeder before running oud do see if you were dill alive."

"You didn't think to check what?"

"De dermome- oh shud up. And dop laughing."

"Sorry." Somehow she didn't think he really was though.

"I'm glad you find dis so amusing."

Inuyasha's soft chuckles died down as he looked at the small girl laying on the bed. As she coughed forcefully for a minute and reached for a glass of water next to her to relieve her sore throat, he felt the guilt once again creep up on him. He knew it was his fault she was sick without her having to point it out. If he had just stayed near her like he was supposed to, like he had wanted to in the first place, she wouldn't have had to run outside to look for him. But no, he had to go outside, just because it was habit. Thank goodness he hadn't gone far or else she would have been out there even longer. Who knows how sick she would have gotten then. He still couldn't believe she had been so worried about him over a silly dream. Or maybe not so silly after all. The way she had described it, he could almost believe she had actually been there to see him…that day. But that was impossible wasn't it? There was no way she could have been able to see something like that without him telling her what had happened. He was positive he hadn't told her anything about it either. So how had she seen it? His mind went round and round in circles trying to figure it out, but he only wound up giving himself a slight headache trying to figure out the mystery that was Kagome. There were just too many things about her that defied reason to put them all in order.

Some time in the course of his thinking, Kagome had drifted off to sleep again. Glancing at the clock, he saw it was just past noon. Her mom would probably be coming up to check on her in a little bit. He was glad Kagome hadn't told her the real reason she was sick, having instead fibbed and said it was probably from when she took a walk last night without her sweater. Though that probably hadn't helped either. He didn't want Mrs. Higurashi thinking he was taking such poor care of her daughter when she tolerated his presence so well. Granted there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it, but he thought she took it all in stride quite well. With a tiny sigh, Inuyasha settled himself at the side of Kagome's bed, brushing a few damp strands of hair from her forehead and noting she felt very warm. A lot warmer that before actually. Hmm, he would have to get her to take her temperature when she woke up. He didn't like the idea of her having a fever on top of everything else. Figuring there was nothing else he could do for now except keep her unconscious form company, he settled down to wait for her to awaken.

* * *

It was almost night time and Kagome still hadn't wakened up. Inuyasha was beginning to get worried. Her mother had come in to check on her several times, feeling her forehead and bringing her a new blanket when the last one became damp with sweat. He looked up as the door opened again. Kagome's mother entered the room carrying a bowl of water and a washcloth. She settled herself on the edge of the mattress as Inuyasha had done a minute before. She put a hand against her daughter's forehead and then her cheeks, frowning slightly. Setting the bowl and cloth on the night stand, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a digital thermometer. Uncapping it, she stuck the end into Kagome's mouth and wiggled it a little to find the right spot. Waiting patiently for it to beep, she smoothed back the girl's bangs from her face. 

The stick gave a small beep beep and she took it out to read it, Inuyasha leaning anxiously over her shoulder to look as well.

It read 102.3. From the look on her mother's face, Inuyasha could see that wasn't a good number. Putting the thermometer back in her pocket, Mrs. Higurashi reached over and grabbed the wash cloth, soaking it in the water and ringing it out a little before wiping Kagome's face and forehead with it. Unable to stand not knowing if she going to be alright or not, Inuyasha did something that he normally wouldn't have done.

He asked for help.

Of course, Kagome's mother couldn't hear him, so he did the next best thing he could think of. He tugged on the sleeve of her shirt. She ignored him at first; probably not sure she had felt it at all. He tugged again, harder this time so that her elbow jerked back slightly. Looking over, she frowned in confusion when she didn't see anyone then turned her attention back to the bed. Growling slightly in frustration, Inuyasha gave her arm one more tug, bringing her elbow back once more. Mrs. Higurashi turned around once again, confusion crowding her features, but only for a second this time as she realized who must be trying to get her attention.

"Ahh, Inuyasha. Forgive me; I had forgotten you were here. That is you isn't it?"

He gave another gentle pull on the sleeve to confirm her suspicions.

"I suppose you're worried about Kagome too."

Tug.

She sighed at this. Glancing down at her daughter, she gave a little frown of concern. "Her temperature is a little high for my liking and I'm worried that she hasn't woken up yet. She hasn't has she?"

He gave two tugs to indicate she had not.

"No, I didn't think so. This all came on so suddenly, I can only hope it will leave the same way. If her temperature hasn't dropped by tomorrow morning though, I'm going to call our doctor."

The thought that she might need a doctor scared him a little and he found himself tugging on her sleeve repeatedly.

As if understanding his distress, she smiled reassuringly. "I'm sure Kagome will be fine. She may look delicate, but she is actually quite tough." Dipping the washcloth back in the water, she began bathing Kagome's forehead and cheeks once more in cool water.

"I remember one time when she was about five years old; she had just learned how to ride a bike. It had training wheels on it of course, but she was so proud of the fact that she could ride all by herself. Anyways her father had taken her out on the side walk in front of our house. We didn't live here then; it wasn't until my husband passed away some years later that I moved back in here with my father." Her voice had taken on a slightly pained tone as she spoke about her husband, but then she continued on in the same reminiscing voice as before. Inuyasha, sitting on the floor facing her, was leaning in closely, not wanting to miss a word.

"She was doing a good job by herself until she got to a wide crack in the pavement. The front tire got caught and twisted to the side tipping her and the bike over onto to sidewalk. Takerou, her father, was too far away to catch her, so when he reached her she was already crying. She had managed to scrape up both knees and catch her elbow on a rock nearby. She actually still has a little scar there." Here Mrs. Higurashi pointed to Kagome's right elbow, hidden under the covers. Inuyasha made a mental note to look later and see for himself. "Takerou was very upset at having let her hurt herself so badly and began to cry himself. He was a very sensitive man and loved Kagome dearly, so don't blame him too much. Well, when Kagome saw her beloved daddy in tears, she picked herself up of the ground and wiped away her tears, then threw her arms around her father and said, 'don't cry daddy, see I'm alright'." She stopped here and smiled fondly at her daughter. "Always thinking of others, my Kagome."

Shaking her head a little, she gave a small laugh. "You'll have to forgive me Inuyasha. I can be a little nostalgic at times. I hope I didn't bore you."

"No way. Tell me something else!" Inuyasha had enjoyed hearing about Kagome before he had known her. To show his enthusiasm, he began tugging on her sleeve once more. He kept pulling until she gave another laugh.

"Okay, okay. I take it you liked my story then. Would you like to hear another?" Another tug. "Alright, let me think… Oh I have a funny one for you."

Mrs. Higurashi entertained Inuyasha for almost an hour, telling him tale after tale about Kagome growing up. Some stories were funny while others would have made the girl blush in embarrassment had she been awake to hear them. He had laughed aloud quite a lot at those ones. Each time she would stop, he would give her sleeve another tug to tell her to go on. The room had become dark and as she finished another story she looked at the clock to see what time it was. At his tugs, she shook her head and stood up.

"I'm sorry dear; I have to go make some soup for Kagome now. Hopefully I can wake her up in a little bit and get her to eat something. Please keep an eye on her. Oh, what am I saying, of course you will. If she wakes up, try to get her to stay up for a little bit." With that, she picked up the bowl from the table and left the room, keeping the door open slightly.

Lifting himself from the floor he took back his post that her mother had vacated and leaned over the sleeping girl.

"Kagome."

He thought he heard her sigh slightly at her name. He leaned a little closer. "Kagome, wake up." He wasn't speaking very loud, but he could see that she had definitely twitched a little that time.

"Kaaagooomeeee." He was speaking softly in her ear now, face inches from her skin. He could feel the heat radiating from her. He briefly wished her mother had left the bowl of water with him. Glancing over to her nightstand he saw her glass of water and on an impulse he dipped the long end of his sleeve in it. Bringing his arm back to the bed, he proceeded to wipe her face as he had seen Mrs. Higurashi do. Damn, but she was burning up.

"Kagome, please wake up. You're mom is making you something to eat. Aren't you hungry? You haven't had anything all day."

But not even the promise of food was enough to wake her up from her deep slumber. He tried another tactic. "Hey Kagome, I never knew you used to collect pony stickers. You'll have to show me your collection sometime."

Nothing. Dammit, even teasing her wasn't working. Oh well, it was making him feel better though. "So you think rainbows are made by fairies huh? Personally I think the sun reflecting off of the water in the air has something to do with it. But I could be wrong."

Ah, good. She was starting to rouse herself. But still not quite awake.

"Now about those evil gnomes that live in you closet. If it would make you feel better I could start checking in there before you go to sleep. Of course if they start using those pitchforks on me, you're on your own."

"I was eight!"

Inuyasha smiled down at the sleepy looking, and somewhat discomfited Kagome. "Oh are you awake now?"

"How…how did you find out about-"She stopped mid sentence in a fit of coughing.

"About the evil closet gnomes?"

She nodded, looking a little embarrassed.

"Your mom."

At her questioning look he simply shrugged and gave a cocky smirk. Giving him a watered down version of her usual glare, she was about to say something when her mom came back in the room.

"Oh, good you're awake." Walking over to her desk she turned on the tiny book light, so that Kagome wouldn't be blinded, but could still see. "I brought you some soup sweetie. Do you think you can eat something?"

Kagome looked slightly ill at the mention of food and shook her head. "I don't think so mom."

"Well, you need to eat something, so just try a little okay?"

"Okay," she agreed reluctantly.

She tried a spoonful and decided she could manage at least a little. Remembering what Inuyasha had been saying to her, she shot a reproachful look at her mom. "Did you really tell Inuyasha about the closet gnomes?"

Mrs. Higurashi didn't even have the decency to look ashamed when she admitted that she had.

"Mom! What else did you tell him?"

"Don't you worry about that now, eat your soup."

Half a bowl later, Kagome had had enough. "I can't eat anymore. I feel sick."

"Alright. Do you want to go back to sleep?"

Kagome had already lain back down as her mother asked this. As she closed her eyes she said tiredly, "Yes please." She felt a soft kiss on her forehead before her mother turned the light back off with a quiet, 'good night'.

And she slipped back into unconsciousness once more.

* * *

And of course, she was back in the forest. Sure, why not. She was sick and feeling like crap as it was, why not see her friend get shot by an arrow and killed to boot? That would make her feel much better. Only, it seemed different this time. She looked around her. Off in the distance she saw what looked like smoke coming from a village. Now that hadn't bee here before. Not seeing anything else that might be needing her attention, she began to walk towards the source of the rising smoke. 

As she approached a group of small houses that looked to be made from some _very_ raw materials, she could see that the smoke was rising from a platform of some sort. There was a small pile of wood stacked one atop the other and as she drew closer she could see there was a body laid across the wood. It was the priestess. So, she had died and they were burning her body, perhaps out of respect? Or maybe just per her wishes. Looking closer, she could see something glittering in her clasped hands. It looked like the same thing Inuyasha had been holding before… What was it? It looked like some sort of round stone. It was very pretty, being a lovely shade of pink…

All of a sudden she felt a slight pull at her side and then her surroundings began to spin around her. Abruptly it stopped and she found herself looking at a clearing with a man standing in the middle. He looked to be in a lot of pain and was clutching his hand tightly. Off in the distance she could see an older man and a small boy. The older man seemed to be dragging the boy off, but was having a tough time of it. She heard screaming and whipped her head around to see one of the most horrifying scenes she had ever witnessed. The hand the man had been clutching was beginning to, well, she couldn't really describe it, but it seemed to be pulling everything in around it, like some sort of vacuum. As she watched on in horror, the wind around the hand picked up more and more until it began to pull in the man himself. _'That's not possible! How can that be happening?'_ Impossible as it seemed, in a few minutes the man was gone, leaving behind a giant crater in the earth and a very distraught little boy. The man had been pulled into his own hand.

The scenery swam again and now she was in a new village. All of a sudden a giant boomerang was flying at her from out of nowhere. Screaming, Kagome threw herself to the ground as the thing whooshed by her head and then swung back around the way it had come. Lifting her head up she saw a young girl, probably about twelve or so, watching the boomerang as it came straight at her.

"Watch out!" Kagome shouted. The girl however, couldn't hear her and lifted her hand as if to catch the huge thing. As it swung lower, the girl reached up to pluck the boomerang out of the sky. Unfortunately she couldn't control it and as soon as it hit her hand, she was knocked over and went flying backwards at least five feet, landing on her back with a pained 'oof'. Small wonder since the thing was almost twice her size. She lay there for a minute trying to get her breath back. A man walked up to her and stopped next to her. Looking down he shook his head and frowned.

"No good. Try it again."

The girl picked herself up stiffly from the ground and schooled her features to one of determination. "Yes, father." Bracing her feet on the ground the girl struggled to lift the thing above her head and proceeded to swing it around and release it as hard as she could, letting it go with a grunt.

The boomerang swung around once more in Kagome's direction, but before it could reach her, everything blurred and changed once more. She was starting to get a little dizzy from all the switching around. She was outside a large house, and compared to the other places she had seen so far, the person in here must have been pretty well to do. She heard voices inside and peeked in through a window to see what was going on. Inside a monk, a bit lower on the totem judging from his blue and purple robes, was speaking to an older gentleman. The older man looked a bit stressed out about something and the monk was waving his hand in a placating gesture, smiling confidently. She couldn't really make out what they were saying, but she heard the words 'spirit' and 'exorcise' a few times. The older man, who she judged to be the owner of the house, looked relieved at whatever the monk was saying and bowed several times before departing from the front door, closing it behind him and leaving the monk to himself. The young monk proceeded to wave his staff around in the air and chant something under his breath. He walked around the room a few times doing this and came to rest near the front window. Looking out of it he smiled happily and closed the blinds. He reached into his robes and pulled out several pieces of paper that Kagome recognized as warding talismans like the ones her grandfather used. Walking around the room once more, he placed the charms on various places against the walls, saying a little prayer each time. Stepping back to survey his work he gave a satisfied nod and reached into his robe again. This time he pulled out what appeared to be an empty sack. Now what was he going to do with that? The answer became obvious as she watched him walk abut the room one last time and placed many different objects into the sack, noticing that everything he chose looked quite expensive. Was he stealing these things? Surely a monk would not stoop to stealing from people. Perhaps the owner had told him he could take what he wanted as payment? But even as she thought it, Kagome knew that the things he was taking were far too valuable to just have been given away. A thieving monk. That was a new one to her. Now he had a full sack and was heading toward her. Backing up from the window, she threw her hands in the air and said, "I wasn't watching I swear!"

But the young monk didn't hear her; he only slid the window open and dropped the sack to the ground before falling through himself. Dusting himself off, he picked up his staff and the bag from the ground and with a quick look back at the house and a sly grin he ran off into the surrounding forest. Kagome couldn't help but notice the strong resemblance to the young boy she had seen before and wondered if they were possibly related. Her thoughts were cut short as the dizziness came back with the twirling background.

Kagome dropped to her knees, feeling sick to her stomach. When she looked up finally, she gave a little squeal of surprise. There was a giant fox right in front of her! Not daring to even breathe, she watched as the fox lay sleeping in front of her. When she was certain there was no way it could know she was there, she crawled over cautiously to get a better look. As she neared it, she could see something curled up with it. _'Aw, how cute!' _It was a little child. But it was the strangest looking child she had ever seen, with tiny pointed ears and a puffy little tail coming out of its behind. Its mouth was hanging open and she could see delicate looking fangs poking out from within. _'I wonder if it's a hanyou like Inuyasha.'_ She couldn't really tell if it was a boy or girl. The clothes suggested a boy, but the pretty blue bow in its hair pointed to a girl. She decided it was probably a boy after all since most girlsdidn't usually sleep hanging upside down from the lap of a fox with drool trailing from their mouths. Without warning the giant fox's head came up and looked directly at her. It gave a growl of warning and Kagome immediately backed away, scuttling like a crab on her hands and knees in her haste to get away. When she was a good distance away, the fox stopped growling and put its head back down, though its eyes remained opened and trained on her. _'Weird…this must be what Inuyasha was talking about when he said animals reacted to him. No one else even knew I was there.' _She was actually beginning to get bored when the spinning began again. Kagome held her head and closed her eyes until it was over.

'_How many more times is it going to do this? I think I'm going to be sick if it happens again'_ She cautiously opened her eyes to see where she was now. She almost screamed in frustration as she saw her well beneath her and the forest a short distance away. _'All that and I'm right back at the beginning…' _Now she really did feel like she was going to be sick. She knew what would be shown now. She had hoped that her unconscious mind would have been kind and skipped this particular scene for once, but then again, why would it do that. It was only _her _freaking mind. Why would it do what she wanted it to?

Kagome jumped off the well and darted into the forest. It _was_ her mind darn it! She should be able to control how things went if she wanted to. She looked about her frantically, her heartbeat picking up speed as she raced through the forest, looking for any sign of either Inuyasha or the priestess. Finally she spotted a flash of red in the distance and hurried toward it, ignoring the steady pounding in her head as she ran closer to the form that was sitting on the ground. It was the priestess. She was leaning on her bow with her feet tucked under her thighs, almost as if she were praying. Kagome wanted to say something to her, but for some reason her voice wouldn't work and she was having difficulty breathing. The throbbing in her head was beginning to become more noticeable now.

"You're too late girl."

Startled, Kagome opened her eyes that had been closed briefly to help her concentrate on her breathing. Had the priestess been speaking to _her_? As she watched, the girl lifted her head and looked directly into her eyes. Guess so.

"Too late…?" She hoped she wasn't referring to what she thought.

The girl, (what was her name again?) pointed in front of her. Kagome turned and gave a cry of dismay. How had she not seen him before? Rushing over to the God Tree, she reached out a hand to Inuyasha, as if to pull him down.

"Don't bother."

Whipping around and ignoring the nausea in her stomach, she pointed an accusing finger at the girl sitting on the forest floor. "You did this!" The girl only gave a small nod at the charge. "Why? I don't understand…"

"A word of advice girl. Don't get too close to him. He will only betray you in the end. Just as he did to me." Kagome glanced back at the boy pinned to the tree. How could he look so peaceful stuck up there like that? It almost seemed like he was sleeping and not really dead at all. She looked back at the priestess and suddenly noticed that the front of her shirt was covered in blood.

"Oh!"

The girl smiled grimly and nodded. "This is the price I paid for trusting him. Do not be so foolish as I was, keep your distance. He may not be able to physically harm you, but there is more than one way to wound someone…"

"But… I still don't understand! Why did he do this to you? What are you talking about? He couldn't have done that could he have? Wait!" The girl was beginning to fade away now. In a few seconds she was alone again. She bit her lip and growled angrily.

'_She was lying. She had to have been. Right?'_ Her head began to ache fiercely and she gasped at the pain. Slipping to her knees, she pushed her hands to her temples as if to keep her brain from trying to escape, which was what it felt like it was doing. The trees around her began to move in the same twisting way as before and Kagome groaned as her vision swam and her stomach gave a mighty leap.

'_Oh no…'_

Blessedly the spinning stopped and nothing took its place but darkness.

* * *

All night, Kagome had been tossing and turning. Sweat was pouring off her body and Inuyasha began to worry that she would soon become dehydrated. He paced back and forth across the small space between her door and window, glancing at the bed every couple of seconds. He felt so completely useless. She was obviously in pain, but there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. He had thought about waking her up again, but decided against it, knowing that sleep was better for her right now. Only, she didn't seem very restful right now. He glanced at the bed again and went to kneel by her side. Her brow was furrowed and her breathing was coming rapidly. He could hear her heart thumping in her chest like a trapped animal. No, this definitely wasn't a restful sleep. But he really shouldn't wake her… Kagome gave a little groan and whimpered slightly. 

Fuck it.

"Kagome." He shook her shoulder gently, then a bit more forcefully. "Snap out of it Kagome!" Her eyes fluttered slightly and she gave another groan.

He continued shaking her and calling her name until she finally cracked open her eyes. "Inu…yash…"

"I'm here."

"I know… I…"

"What?"

"I think…"

"What, what's wrong?"

Suddenly Kagome threw back the covers and stumbled out of bed towards the door. "I think I'm going to be sick!"

Stunned by her sudden departure, he stared after her for a minute before he heard the slam of the bathroom door and, a second later, the sound of retching. Following after her he stood outside the door and waited.

"Are you okay?"

His only response was more sounds of gagging and a small moan. Bracing himself for the smell, he walked through the door to help her. He could at least hold her hair back. Oddly, no smell of vomit assaulted his nose and a quick glance to the toilet confirmed his suspicions. She was dehydrated after all. Kneeling on the floor next to the girl, he rubbed her back with one hand and held her hair back with the other as she leaned over the toilet once more and her body shook with dry heaves. Exhausted, she collapsed against Inuyasha and trembled slightly. Her eyes were closed, but he knew she was still awake from the ragged intake of her breath.

"All done?"

Kagome gave a barely perceptible nod of her head, her eyes still closed. Doubling up, she suddenly fell into a fit of coughing. This of course leading to another bout of heaves over the toilet. Two minutes later Kagome was ready to crawl back under her covers and die. Surely she hadn't done anything so bad as to deserve this?

"Kill me."

"Sorry, no can do."

To tired to feel embarrassed by the fact Inuyasha had just been witness to what was probably not one of her finer moments in life, she dragged her eyes open and brought a hand up to clear the grit from them. Her hand shook as she brought it back down to her side.

"Would you mind helping me stand?"

In response, she felt his arms snake under her legs and behind her back and then lift her in the air.

"Inuyasha!" Her voice came out in a tiny squeak of surprise. Feeling a wave of dizziness at being picked up so quickly, she buried her face against his chest and took a deep breath. Aaah. There was that smell again. She snuggled in a little deeper and inhaled again. It was so comforting.

Inuyasha stood still, barely breathing himself as Kagome sniffed him again. What was she doing? Why was she making those happy little noises? He really wished she would quit smelling him like that. His heart was beginning to pick up it's pace a little at the closeness of her and her digging that little nose into his chest and inhaling his scent like it was the best thing she'd ever smelled wasn't helping at all. It must be because she was sick. Sure, he decided, she was sick and couldn't really know what she was doing.

He heard a small sigh from the girl in his arms. He looked down and saw she had her eyes closed again and was smiling slightly. "You smell so nice Inuyasha. Makes me feel safe…"

Yup, that was definitely the fever and queasy stomach talking there.

"Do you want to go back to sleep?"

She shook her head slightly. "Bad dreams… makes me dizzy…"

Dizzy? That was a new one. "Alright, are you hungry then?"

Kagome opened her eyes and glared at him as if to say 'do I _look _hungry after spending the last half hour leaning over a toilet?' But that might have just been his take on it. Either way she just shook her head.

"At least drink some water."

She thought about the likelihood of her stomach accepting a drink of water and decided it would be worth the risk. Her mouth felt like someone had poured a bucket of sand in it, only not so gritty.

"Okay, set me down."

Inuyasha placed her on her feet, but kept one arm around her waist for support. Reaching over to the sink, she plucked up a small paper cup and filled it with tap water. She took a sip and coughed immediately as it came in contact with her dry throat. She filled the cup again, this time drinking a little slower. She managed not to spray this one everywhere and felt a little better as the water ran down her throat to her stomach.

Three and a half cups later she was feeling a little more clearheaded. Enough so to realize Inuyasha was still holding on to her waist and she was acutely aware of how close he was.

She cleared her throat a little and blushed slightly, though it didn't really show on her already fevered cheeks. "Er, thank you. I'm feeling a little better now." She made as if to move towards the door and found herself swept up again.

"What are you doing?"

"Taking you back to your room, that's where you want to go isn't it?"

"Well, yeah but-"

"Then let's go," he said, cutting off her feeble protest. She sighed in defeat and settled more comfortably in his arms. She _was_ tired and wasn't really sure if she could have made it back to her room without falling on her face anyways. Despite not wanting to go back to sleep, Kagome's eyes soon closed as she drifted off once more. By the time Inuyasha laid her back in her bed and tucked her in, she was fast asleep. This time it was free from dreams of forests and priestesses.

* * *

"Well, your fever has gone down a little. That's good. I don't like the sound of that cough though. I'm going to stop at the store and get you some medicine okay? Your grandfather will be here if you need something. He should be up to check on you in a little bit." Her mother leaned over and planted a kiss on her cheek before standing up. "I'll be back soon." 

"Okay mom."

Inuyasha could barely hear the words through her scratchy voice. Some time around dawn she had woken up to another coughing fit that hadn't really stopped until several hours later. It was almost painful just listening to her.

It was a little after ten in the morning and Kagome was sitting up in bed with a pillow behind her back for comfort. Her expression, however, looked anything but comfortable. In fact, she looked positively miserable.

"What's up? You look like Buyo just dropped a worm on your lap."

"Ha, ha. I just don't like being sick, that's all." She coughed a little and reached for the glass of water waiting for her. "I'm going to get so behind in class."

"You're worried about your class work getting behind? Shit, most kids would love the excuse to be out of school for a few days. You really are weird." Inuyasha shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't believe she was worried about her homework of all things.

"Yeah well, what can I say, I love writing term papers." She gave a hoarse laugh at that and dissolved into coughs once more.

"Alright, that's enough talking. All your hacking is making my ears hurt." He looked around the room for something for her to do that wouldn't involve talking. He spotted her school books piled on her desk and picked one up. "Here, if you're so worried about falling behind, why don't you study?" He tossed the book lightly onto her lap.

Kagome picked up the book and looked at the cover. It was her algebra book. It would figure that would be the one he would throw at her. Figuring it couldn't hurt; she flipped it open and skipped to the pages they were currently covering.

Several minutes later she threw the book to the ground in disgust. The numbers kept dancing around in front of her eyes, teasing her with their elusive meaning. She was certain the fever wasn't completely to blame for her lack of understanding though. She just sucked at math.

Revising her earlier opinion of wishing she had homework to do she flashed the room a smile and asked, "You want to play a game?"

"What kind of game?" was the curious reply.

"There's a deck of cards in my desk drawer. Have you ever played Crazy Eights?"

Inuyasha got the deck of cards from the desk and went back over to the bed to kneel next to Kagome, handing her the deck of cards. "No."

She smiled, taking the cards out of the box and shuffling them. "It's really easy, here I'll teach you."

They spent the next few hours playing various card games, Inuyasha losing most of them, but managing to keep his temper most of the time. He only threw the deck once and then played the one person game of Fifty-Two Card Pick Up. As her mother mentioned, her grandfather came in to check on her, bringing a bowl of soup with him. If he seemed confused by the fact that Kagome was playing Go Fish by herself he hid it well.

Her mother came back with the promised medicine and for once Kagome was glad to take it without a fuss. It didn't taste half as bad as she remembered as a child and it soothed her sore throat after a while, making her coughs lessen. Around four o'clock her mother came up to her room and announced she had a visitor. Figuring it was one of her friends coming to check on her, she told her mother to show them up.

She straightened the deck of cards and set it on the table next to her. Sitting up, she smiled expectantly as the door opened.

"Oh… Hojo! What are you doing here?"

* * *

AN- This chapter took a little longer than I expected and I didn't get nearly as far as I wanted to. I really am trying to move things along, but man, I can be loquacious at times! You'll have to forgive me for all the drivel. I did, however, manage to squeeze in some of the other characters for those of you who wanted to see them. I wasn't originally going to include them, but I got the impression you would like to see them. They will show up again, probably near the end, so fear not if you don't see them for a while, they will return. 

Q and A

Q**. Raven the Shikon-Hawk**- Where do you find the time to update so much?

A. Sleep deprivation, plus I have the ability to go back in time so I can do several things at once… but mostly sleep deprivation

Q. **Jeanniestorm**- Will we find out about the curse? It'll be broken and he'll stay with her right?

A. The curse is slowly coming to light, but I'm still working out the finer points so you'll have to be patient with me, as for the breaking of the curse… :-)

Q. **Chixon**- Is Hojo going to show up and make Inuyasha jealous?

A. Ask and ye shall receive…

Q. **Raku-Onna**- Were all the people who Inuyasha shadowed over the years Kikyo's reincarnations?

A. That's a really good question and I actually considered putting that in, but decided against it. I wanted to make sure that Kagome was unique in this aspect.

Q. **InuyashaObsesses101**- How are they supposed to be together if they can't even see each other?

A. Well technically, Inuyasha can see Kagome just fine, but that's not what you meant. Just give me time and I shall have Kagome come up with an anti-invisibility potion in her Chemistry class…or something to that effect. By the way, congratulations on being my very first threatening review! That 'or else' was kind of scary… ;-)

Q. **Auxana**- Are they possibly going to meet the rest of the Inu-tachi when or if they go through the well?

A. I suppose I could squeeze that in somewhere…


	16. Jealous?

Disclaimer- I think the word 'Disclaimer' pretty much sums it up.

AN- I've seen a lot of different spellings for Hojo (Houjou, Houjyou, Houjo… you get the point) but this one is the most popular, so I will stick with it.

Also, to clear up any confusion later on, I am modeling Kagome's school year after the Japanese system, which has the end of year at the end of March with two weeks off for spring break and then the beginning of the next year at the start of April.

Jealous?

Kagome blinked in surprise. What was Hojo doing in her room? Wait… _'There's a boy in my room!'_

Kagome blushed slightly at the thought and self consciously pulled her blanket a little higher. _'Wait a minutes, what am I saying? Inuyasha's been in my room for a week now… Eeek!' _Now why hadn't that particular thought occurred to her before?

"Hello, Higurashi. I heard from your friends that you were sick and I thought I would stop by and see how you were feeling." Hojo flashed her a shy grin, swinging his backpack around to reach in it. "I brought your school work for you, so you would be able to keep up." He walked to her bed side to hand her two work books and a piece of paper. That was it?

"I figured you still had all your text books with you, so I didn't bring any with me."

Oh.

She glanced at the paper and groaned at the long list of assignments. Hojo chuckled at her obvious disappointment. "I know; there's a ton to do. End of year is the worst. I would be happy to help you… if you wanted." He turned a little pink in the cheeks as he said this and waited expectantly for her to reply.

"Oh, that's very sweet of you." Was it her imagination or did she hear growling coming from her window? "I wouldn't want to trouble you though. You probably have a lot to do yourself."

Hojo flapped his hand dismissively and smiled again. "No, it wouldn't be any trouble. Really."

What the heck was that sound? Was Buyo getting into a fight with the neighbor cat again? Kagome glanced out her window, but couldn't really see if her cat was out there or not.

She turned her attention back to Hojo. He was still giving her that cute little grin of his. It was really quite charming… "Well… I wouldn't want you to get sick…"

Seeing she wasn't going to reject him again, Hojo brightened, his blue eyes lighting up. "Don't worry about that Higurashi. I have a very strong immune system. It's in my family. Oh!" He reached again in his backpack and rummaged around for a bit before pulling out a small paper bag about the size of an index cad. It looked like it had something in the bottom. "Here." He handed the bag to her and she peeked inside. There was a small pile of dried herbs tucked inside. She took an experimental sniff and immediately recoiled; holding the bag out as far as it would go from her, eyes watering.

"Uhg, what is this?"

Hojo smiled proudly, as if she didn't just look as though a stink bug had crawled up her nose. "It's medicine." He scratched his head and looked thoughtful for a moment. "I got them from my grandmother, but I can't really remember what she put in it." Straightening up he gave her another smile. "But it will work wonders on your throat."

Kagome looked down at the bag with a dubious expression. "I have to eat it?"

Hojo shook his head. "Oh, no."

'_Whew.'_

"It tea, you need to drink it."

'_Drat.'_

"There's enough there for you to take a cup tonight and then one in the morning."

She placed the bag on her nightstand and gave what she hoped was a grateful smile. "Well thank you Hojo. I'll, uh, make sure to try it."

Hojo fixed his backpack on his shoulder and flashed her one more smile as he made his way to the door. "I'll let you rest now, but how about I come back Sunday afternoon? You should probably feel better by then."

Kagome nodded, not having to force the gratitude this time. "That would be great. Thanks again Hojo."

"No problem at all, Higurashi. I'll see you later. Oh and I left my phone number on the bottom of your assignment sheet. Call me if you need me to bring some more tea."

"Oh, okay." Somehow she didn't think she would need him to bring more.

He gave a small wave before he left and closed the door behind him softly.

Kagome was smiling slightly, her eyes on the door still, as she thought. _'This is great! Hojo is one of the top students. I'll be able to catch up in no time. Maybe he can help me make some notes for the finals too…'_

Her thought were cut short by another growl from the window. She realized suddenly what it was a second before Inuyasha spoke up.

"Who the hell was that bozo?"

Kagome jerked her head around to the window and scowled at it. "That was Hojo, a boy from my school. You must have seen him before. I don't appreciate you growling at him you know. He was just being nice."

"Feh. He was being a little too nice if you ask me." He didn't quite growl as he said this, but Kagome heard his voice drop an octave.

"What is _that _supposed to mean?" How could someone be _too_ nice?

Inuyasha ignored her question. "You're not really going to let him come over on Sunday are you?"

"Why wouldn't I?

He did growl slightly at that. "Because you don't need his help."

"Inuyasha, I've been out of school for two days, not to mention all the weekend homework I'll have to do. It would really be a lot easier if I had someone to help me with it."

"You have me," he said simply.

Kagome paused for a second. Was he…? No, there was no way.

"I don't want to impose on you."

Instead of reassuring him as she intended, Inuyasha seemed to take offence to her statement. "Impose? I live with you for crying out loud. You don't seem to care if you impose on _him_ though. You were practically swooning when he left, staring after him like some love sick fool."

Kagome sputter in outrage. "What- I wasn't- Don't be stupid! I don't swoon!"

"You were! Staring at the door with that goofy smile on your face after he left." He pitched his voice in an imitation of hers. "Oh Hojo! Why thank you sooo much. Please come back and help me with my homework because I'm such a brainless idiot I couldn't possibly figure it out for myself"

Kagome's face was almost purple with fury. _'How dare he!' _

"You jerk! I do not sound like-" Kagome broke off and started coughing violently. Okay maybe getting into a shouting match with a sore throat wasn't the smartest idea in the world.

Inuyasha paced the room as she coughed, trying to work off his anger somehow. As the minutes wore on and she was still hacking away, he began to feel a little ashamed. He shouldn't have been yelling at her like that when she was still so sick. Something about that guy just ticked him off though. Like the way he looked at her…

Kagome's coughing trailed off. She reached for the water and took a long drink. _'Ahh, that feels better.'_ When she felt as though her throat was as relieved as it would get, she took a deep breath and prepared to give Inuyasha a piece of her mind.

"I'm sorry."

Huh? She let her breath out in a small whoosh. At those two small words she felt her anger start to break up. "You… you're sorry?"

His voice sounded contrite as he continued. "I shouldn't have made you angry. And…and you didn't really sound like that. Not a lot anyways." He saw her bristle and open her mouth to say something. "Okay, you didn't sound like that at all." She seemed mollified by that. Despite his better judgment he couldn't seem to keep himself from saying what came next though. "But I still don't think that loser needs to be here on Sunday." Dammit, he just couldn't keep his mouth shut could he? He cringed slightly, waiting for her angry reply.

Kagome sighed softly. Well, if it would keep him from getting mad again… "Alright. I'll tell him not to come."

It was Inuyasha's turn to be stunned. She wasn't going to let him come over? He suddenly grinned. Damn straight she wasn't going to let him come over! "Good."

Kagome rolled her eyes. Not even a thank you, but then what did she expect? "You better be able to help me out like you said. I have to have this all done by Monday."

"Fine, fine whatever." _'As long as I don't have to see that stupid kid and his stupid grin.' _Now why did it bug him so much when he had smiled at Kagome?

"I think you're overreacting though. If I didn't know better I'd think you were jealous."

"Feh, don't be stupid. What's to be jealous over?"

Kagome shrugged. "Nothing, I guess."

"Then drop it already."

"Fine." But Kagome silently wondered at his reaction.

* * *

The weekend went by slowly and was much less enjoyable than usual for Kagome. She called Hojo on Saturday and made up an excuse as to why he couldn't come over the following day. The boy took it well and said that he hoped she felt better and maybe some other time then. She had to reassure him that she didn't need any more tea several times before hanging up. The tea in question had been tried and was found to be just as awful in taste as it was in smell. Out of obligation she had choked down some of the liquid and found that it really did make her cough better. That didn't mean she wanted any more though. All the sugar in the world wouldn't cover up _that_ particular taste. Inuyasha had kept his word and helped her with her assignments. While he wasn't very helpful in the science department, his skill with math and language was very good. Considering the way he spoke, she was a little surprised at how much he knew about grammar, but decided to keep it to herself. He was way too touchy sometimes. 

Monday came and went. Then Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Before she knew it Friday was coming to an end and for the first time in months she was heading home with no homework to do. Finals were all next week and everyone was concentrating on studying hard. Kagome was practically skipping as she walked home, for once not loaded down with books.

"Well you sure in a good mood."

Kagome grinned widely at his observation. "Now why do you say that?"

"Because you're practically dancing."

"I can be happy if I want to be. One week! One week til school's out!"

"Yeah, then two weeks til school starts."

Kagome wagged a finger at the air. "Now don't go spoiling things with your crafty logics. It won't work."

"Can't blame a guy for trying."

"Sure I can."

"Feh."

* * *

"Fourteen." 

"Nope."

"Hmmm, Seven?"

"Huh-uh."

"Twenty…five?"

"Now you're just guessing."

Kagome threw her pencil down in frustration. "I don't understand. I knew what I was doing yesterday."

Inuyasha leaned over her shoulder and looked down at the math problem written on her paper. Immediately he saw what her problem was. "It's a stupid mistake."

Kagome crossed her arms and glowered in his direction. "Gee thanks."

He rolled his eyes. "I mean, you just weren't paying attention and transferred the number wrong. You know how to do the damn thing; you just made a stupid mistake."

"Oh."

Inuyasha peered at Kagome for a moment. She had been studying for her algebra exam all weekend and had spent the last two hours staring at numbers and letters. Her test was tomorrow, but he thought she was more than ready for it. He took a closer look at her face. Her eyes looked tired and were beginning to get a little red and her shoulders were starting to slump in the way that indicated she was losing interest in something. "You need a break."

Kagome looked up from her equations. "But-"

Inuyasha grabbed her arm and yanked her out of her chair. "No buts, let's go."

Kagome felt herself being herded towards her door. "Where are we going?"

"Outside."

"Oh, alright."

* * *

"Ahh! This is just what I needed." Kagome raised her arms above her head and twirled around, her face tilted up to feel the suns warmth. Inuyasha watched her with a small smile on his lips. She looked so happy. He loved it when she looked like that. Kagome gave a small laugh as she got dizzy and stumbled a little. She shook her head to clear it and began to walk at a leisurely pace, enjoying the feel of the sun and wind. She had holed herself up in her house for the last couple days and was savoring the sensations before she had to go back and finish studying. She saw the well house coming up and felt the sudden urge to go inside. 

When she reached the door she hesitated for a moment, surprisingly feeling as though she shouldn't go in. Strange, since just a moment ago she had definitely felt as though she _should_ go in. Pushing aside the conflicting thoughts, she slide open the door. It was bright enough inside that her eyes adjusted quickly and as she looked around, she saw nothing out of the ordinary. Giving a mental shrug she continued inside.

She made her way down the steps, keeping her eyes on the wood beneath her so she wouldn't trip on the old stairs. Looking up when she got to the bottom, she gave a small gasp.

"Inuyasha! I told you not to do that."

From his sitting position on the well rim he gave her a cheeky grin. "Sorry."

Kagome gave a very unladylike snort at that. "No you're not."

His shrugged, still grinning. "What can I say, you're right."

She sat beside him, tucking her feet under her. "I hope I do okay tomorrow."

Inuyasha shot her a glare. "You'll do fine, stop worrying so much. You know this stuff back and forth. Seeing how you have such a great tutor and all." He said the last part with a smug expression.

Kagome nodded seriously. "You're right, how could I possibly fail when my mom helped me so much…"

Inuyasha's mouth hung open in disbelief, his expression slowly turning from confusion to sulky and then to irritable as he saw the teasing glint in her eye. "Well, fine. I see how much you appreciate my efforts…"

Kagome immediately felt contrite. "I'm sorry. You really have been a big help Inuyasha. Thank you."

He just shrugged one shoulder and muttered a soft, "Whatever." But he lost his petulant look and she could see a pink tint creep across his nose.

"Merrrew"

Kagome looked over at the noise. "Buyo! What are you doing in here?"

"Meerrrrrow." The chubby cat waddled over to Kagome and looked up at her with big, innocent eyes.

"C'mere silly kitty." Kagome reached down to pick up her cat and froze halfway, her breath catching.

"Aaah!"

Inuyasha watched in amusement as she launched herself on top of the boarded up well with amazing speed.

"Buyo, you bad cat! Get that thing away from me!"

Glancing down at the feline, Inuyasha saw the expected worm hanging from the cat's mouth. Really, all that fuss over something so little. It was just unnatural. Kagome was hopping from foot to foot in agitation by now. Buyo made as if to leap up onto the well after her.

"No, Buyo! Inuyasha!"

"Hmm?" He glanced up at her lazily. Seeing her desperate look he finally caved and reached down to grab the cat by the scruff of his neck. He plucked the worm from his mouth and swung it towards Kagome.

"Is this what you wanted?"

Giving a little squeak, she backed up slightly, moving towards the center of the well. "Just…throw it out the window or something. Please."

Figuring it would be more fun to tease her once the worm was out of her vision, he jumped off the well and went over to a window to throw out the offending creature, watching as it hit the ground with a splat. "There, now the big scary worm is all gone." He heard Kagome's relieved sigh and shook his head. Still looking out the window, he heard another sound. An awful, heart stopping sound. Inuyasha whipped around in time to see Kagome's eyes widen and her mouth form a tiny O of surprise as the boards beneath her cracked and broke, sending her plummeting to the bottom of the well. He leapt to the edge and threw himself across the rim, trying to reach her. Too late. Seconds too late.

"Kagome!" Her fingertips brushed slightly against his as he desperately grabbed for her hand.

"Inuyasha!" Her shocked face was the last thing he saw before being blinded by a bright blue light. And then…the familiar nothingness of sleep.

* * *

AN- Let's hear it for evil cliffies! 

Q and A

Q**. SailorKagome**- Will Kouga be showing up anywhere, anytime? Or perhaps Sesshoumaru? And does Naraku have hand in all of this?

A. Ohh, one of my favorite characters :-) Kouga will definitely be in somewhere I think, Sesshoumaru might be too, but it might be a while. When does Naraku _not_ have a hand in something? He too shall be added into the mix…

Q. **Auxana**- Is Kagome able to see him all this time?

A. Nope. I agree it would be weird to be picked up by an invisible person. Fortunately Kagome was pretty out of it at the time so didn't seem to mind a whole lot. Now if someone else had happened to see them that would have been pretty funny. No one did though, just in case you wondered.

Q. **Inuyasha-craver**- When the hell are we going to find out the answers to when Inuyasha and Kagome are going to hook up and when is Kagome going to go through the well?

A. Such a potty mouth. LoL Did I not answer your question last time? I'm sorry. When will they hook up? Hmm, that's a good question…. As for when she will go through the well… :-P'' I hope that answers your questions!

Bye for now.


	17. A Change of Scenery

Disclaimer- Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, but the story is all me.

AN- Holy cow! I had over thirty reviews in my box just from the last chapter alone. And a _lot_ of questions. The predominant one being: What was meant by 'the familiar nothingness of sleep'? All in good time, all in good time. But hopefully I will get to it in this chapter… :-) We'll see.

By the way, it has been a while since I thanked everyone for taking the time to review my story. So, thank you. It brightens my day to hear all your positive comments and encouragement. :-) Thank you, thank you.

Please excuse the lateness of this chapter. I rewrote it about three or four times before deciding it was good enough for my readers (and my own nitpicky self).

A Change of Scenery

She was weightless, floating through a black field of space, surrounded by waves of blue light. Tiny balls of brilliant white-blue light danced around her. She reached out her hand to touch one of them and felt a pleasant tingle on the tips of her fingers. _'What is this? Did I hit my head? Did I…die? Is this Heaven?'_ Questions flitted across her mind, one after the other. Before she could come up with any reasonable answers though, her surroundings faded away to be replaced by an unfamiliar, but recognizable location.

'_I'm at the bottom of the well, but… I'm okay. Actually, for having just fallen almost thirty feet, I'm a lot more than okay.' _Kagome glanced down at her body, but couldn't find even a scratch on her. Even her clothes were still clean. _'Inuyasha…'_

"Inuyasha! I'm okay! I think I might need some help though…" Kagome looked at the walls around her, hoping to find a ladder. Of course there wasn't one, but she hadn't really had high expectations anyways. With a sigh she tilted her head back to see if she could make out Inuyasha from where she was.

"Uh, I don't remember having a sun roof over the well house." Blinking slightly in the glare from the sun, she gave a small shrug. Maybe she had just forgotten it was there?

"Inuyasha?" Kagome waited for him to answer, wondering where he had gotten to. He had looked so scared when he reached down to grab her. Heck she had been scared witless herself. Maybe he had run off to try and find help. Though the only person who he could possibly be able to get through to would be her mother and she was off shopping in town. _'I guess I'm on my own for now.'_ Deciding it would be more practical to try climbing out rather than wait for someone, she grabbed onto one of the many vines growing on the inside (_How come I never noticed these before?_) and began to pull herself up. Unfortunately, the short khaki skirt she was wearing was not made for wall climbing, so it took her a good fifteen minutes before she finally managed to pull herself up over the edge, panting slightly, but silently thanking her gym teacher for forcing her to learn how to climb a rope.

Kagome laid sprawled half over the edge for a minute before finally realizing something was very different about the floor of the well house.

'_Grass?' _Lifting her head, Kagome let out a started gasp as she took in her surroundings. Not just grass, but a whole field. Flowers, trees, butterflies, birds… everything _but_ her well house. Her stomach began to complain slightly at being squished against the hard wood. Kagome pulled the rest of her body out of the well and plopped down on the edge, silently gaping at the unfamiliar forest around her. Only… it wasn't so very unfamiliar. In fact, she had the nagging suspicion at the back of her head that she had been here before. But when?

Kagome propped her elbows on her knees and rested her head on her upturned palms, trying to remember. She was so deep in thought that she didn't hear the men arrive until they were less than five feet from her. Her head shot up, eyes going wide as she saw at least half a dozen bows and arrows pointed at her. Her brain was slow to catch up and all that came out of her mouth was an intelligent, "Wha…?"

"Silence demon!" one of them shouted, pulling his bowstring back a little more.

Her mouth snapped shut as she went still. Demon? Was he talking to her?

For almost a whole minute they just stood there, staring at one another. Kagome was pondering the risk of saying something when one of the men on the right spoke up.

"She… doesn't look like much of a demon." A couple others murmured in agreement.

"She could be disguising herself,' said another.

"She has to be a demon; I saw her come out of the well. Only demons come around here." This was from the man who had spoken first. She was beginning to not like him.

"Maybe we should take her to see Lady Kaede. She'll know what to do." Kagome silently blessed the man on the right, trying to thank him with her eyes. Unfortunately, he wouldn't look her in the eye, so her effort went unnoticed.

A couple of the other men agreed and finally the first man (she took him to be the leader) relented. "Very well. Tie her up."

Kagome was grabbed forcefully from the well and turned around. Her hands were pulled behind her back and tightly wound together with some very coarse rope. _'Ow! You don't have to be so violent.'_ She kept her mouth closed though, just in case they changed their minds. Where the heck was Inuyasha when she needed him?

She was tramped a little ways through the forest until a small village came into view. Again Kagome felt as though she knew it from somewhere, but couldn't figure out why it seemed so familiar. Surely she had never been here before. It all looked so… old fashioned. No not even that. It looked like it was straight out of one of her history books. But that wasn't possible was it? There weren't any places like this still around. Right? But if that were true, then that would mean… Kagome shook her head. It was too weird to think about. Another thought occurred to her suddenly. Inuyasha had said that he was born over five hundred years ago. That would put him back in the feudal era, which she had already ascertained from his clothing. Looking around at the people that were quickly gathering around the men as they paraded her through the village, she began to see that all of them were wearing the same period of clothing as Inuyasha. So…

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted as she was shoved roughly to the ground. She landed painfully on her knees and as her teeth jarred together from the impact she couldn't help but protest. "Do you have to be so rough?"

The man's only response was to kneel next to her and begin to tie her ankles together. _'Like I'm really going anywhere with all these people standing around us.' _She gave a small sigh and tried to get as comfortable as she could with her ankles tied and her hands behind her back. _'I guess we're waiting for this Lady Kaede to come.'_ Fortunately she didn't have to wait very long. The crowd suddenly parted and revealed an old woman in priestess attire. Kagome wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but she was pretty sure this wasn't it. _'This is a Lady?'_ Kagome stared at the stout old woman, taking in her weathered appearance and eye patch. She looked as though she had taken on a few demons herself. As the old priestess approached her, Kagome opened her mouth to try and explain her situation, getting a face and mouthful of salt for her efforts.

Gagging slightly, she heard the old woman say a few nonsense words and wave her hands around a bit. Not wanting to look as though she was insulting the woman by spitting in front of her, Kagome swallowed the salt with a small shudder at the taste.

She cleared her throat, and prepared to speak again. This time she was interrupted by the gravelly voice of the old woman. "Ye are no demon."

Kagome gave a small sigh of relief. "No," she said shaking her head.

Lady Kaede squinted her one good eye at the girl and peered closer at her. "Ye are awfully young to be a spy."

Kagome shook her head again. "I'm not a spy."

The wrinkle face peered closer, almost coming nose to nose with her. "Hmm." She took a few steps to her left and then to her right, looking at Kagome from all angles.

"Hmm."

'_What does she keep hmming for?'_

The priestess looked her in the eyes now, as if searching for some answer. Not knowing what she was looking for, Kagome just stared back.

Lady Kaede straightened, with a thoughtful look on her face. "Very peculiar." She motioned one of the men over to her. She said something that Kagome couldn't hear and the man turned to her, pulling a knife from his belt.

"Ah! Now wait a minute!" Kagome struggled to free herself from the ropes, the abrasive material cutting into her wrists harshly. "Keep away from me!"

"Calm yourself child. He only means to free your arms and legs."

'_Oh.'_ Kagome blushed a little at her foolishness, holding her arms as far away from her body as she could to let him cut the binds. Once her wrists and feet were free, she picked her self up off the ground, massaging the chaffed flesh.

"Follow me, please." Not waiting for a reply, the old priestess began to walk away, leaving Kagome to either stay behind or follow.

She followed.

* * *

He fought. There was nothing to touch or see, but he fought. There was no sound or smell, but still he fought. Sleep pulled at him and he pulled back. Not this time. He wasn't going back to sleep this time. Not if he could help it. Not if she was still alive. And he knew in his heart she was still alive. He could feel it. Down in his soul, he could feel her still out there, tugging in his chest. Calling him to her. 

And so he fought.

* * *

"So ye fell through a well. But did not end up in the same place. Tis a strange story, but not altogether unbelievable. A mysterious aura surrounds the dry well. We use it to dispose of demon bones, as they disappear after only a few days." 

Kagome nodded at this. "The Bone Eater's well. My grandfather's told me about it. I never really believed those stories though…"

"It would explain why such a young girl would be found alone in the Inuyasha forest. Tis a dangerous place to be by one's self."

Kagome went still at the woman's words, a memory brushing across her mind. "Did…did you say, Inuyasha?

"Aye, Inuyasha forest. The home of many fearsome demons and beasts."

Her heart was beating steadily faster. The memory pushed itself to the front of her brain. An arrow… a younger priestess. "Why is it called…Inuyasha forest?" She knew what was coming, but her heart still raced in anticipation of the woman's next reply.

"That would be because of Inuyasha, the cursed hanyou. Fifty years ago, my sister placed an eternal spell on him and sealed him to a tree. He lays there still, undisturbed by other demons and people."

Kagome was having a hard time breathing as she listened to Kaede. "Eternal…"

"Aye, my sister was a very powerful priestess."

A name came to her, unbidden. "Kikyo…"

Kaede narrowed her good eye and nodded. "Yes, that was her name. How would ye know that though?"

Kagome looked at the old priestess, confusion in her eyes, as if she wasn't sure herself. "I… I think I've been having dreams about her. She… she died…that day. Didn't she?"

Again Kaede nodded, a look coming into her eyes that Kagome could only describe as confirmation. As if she had said something to prove her right. "I thought it was too much of a coincidence."

Kagome blinked in puzzlement. "What do you mean?"

"You child. I believe ye may be the reincarnation of my sister. I can feel a strong aura of power around ye, just as she had. Ye dream of her and that can only mean that I am correct in assuming this. It was not just happenstance that ye look so much like her."

"A reincarnation? I… you can't be sure though. Just from a resemblance and a few dreams."

"And that ye are here now."

"Er… yeah and that."

"I do not believe I am mistaken."

Kagome ran a hand through her hair, trying to collect her thoughts. What was happening here? She had been pulled through a magic well, to be transported five hundred years in the past, to the same place where Inuyasha had been killed…no, he wasn't dead. He was cursed. And to top things off she looked like the woman who had cursed him. A thought occurred to her suddenly. _'I wonder if that's why he disliked me so much before. It would make sense.'_ Her heart sank a little when she thought this. How much must it have hurt him when he saw the person he was supposed to guard looked so much like the woman who had put him in that position in the first place?

But could there be a reason for all this? The old woman had said he was still in the forest, undisturbed after all these years. Fifty years… Hadn't Inuyasha said that was how long he was awake? The rest of the time he was asleep, but for fifty years he had been a Guardian. Fifty years asleep here. Fifty years awake as a Guardian. It couldn't be a coincidence that he had traveled through five hundred years and found her, only for her to travel five hundred years backwards to find him. It just couldn't be.

"Lady Kaede?"

The priestess looked up from the pot she had been stirring. "Yes child?"

"Can you take me to see Inuyasha?"

Kaede's face registered surprise at her request. "Why on earth would ye want to see the Inuyasha?"

Kagome pursed her lips slightly, wondering if she should tell the woman what she knew off him. After a minute, Kagome inwardly debating while Kaede sat patiently waiting, she finally decided she could probably trust the woman. Taking a deep breath, Kagome told the old priestess everything she knew about her hanyou guardian. From the first time she met him, to the dreams she had about him (though her recollection of these were patchy at best), and everything he had told her about being a Guardian.

Kaede listened attentively, taking in everything she said; though Kagome got the impression a few of the references from her time went over the older woman's head. When she finished, she waited in turn for Kaede to reply.

Kaede had her eye closed as she took in all the girl had told her. A few minutes passed before she opened her eye again and looked at Kagome. "I know of the curse that was placed upon him. It is simply named the Guardian curse. It is reserved for demons, as a normal man would not feel its effect upon him. I myself have never performed this curse, as it is energy consuming and truth be told, it is cruel. For Kikyo to have placed this curse upon the Inuyasha… I cannot say why. It binds the demon to an eternity of servitude to a human. It is their protector until they die and then they are bound to another until that person dies. They have no sense of anything other than their human. Sound and sight are limited, and taste, touch and smell are removed permanently. They will be neither seen nor heard and have no power over anything other than that to protect their charge. It is strange what ye have told me. It should not be so that he can move from one human to another without them having died and that he is able to sense things as if he were alive. He should not be able to do many of the things ye have described. Perhaps… perhaps it is because of his human side that this is so. As I said, this curse was not intended for humans. That my sister would try it at all on him…"

Kagome waited for her to continued, but she did not. She could figure out the rest of her sentence though. Kikyo must have hated Inuyasha very much to have wanted him to suffer so much. Kagome thought about what the old woman had told her. Such a fate…It was scary. She gave a small shudder, incredibly thankful that Inuyasha seemed to have gotten around some of the crueler aspects of the curse. The thought of him wandering around for all time, unable to sense anything, made her heart clench in sympathy. She had to do something for him.

"Please…" Kagome turned pleading eyes to the Lady Kaede. "Will you bring me to him?"

The woman sighed and shook her head, making Kagome's heart sink once more. "Child, what ye ask is not practical. Ye cannot hope to remove his curse. My sister died placing it on him, so it is all the stronger for it. It would be dangerous to even try."

Kagome could feel tears of frustration forming in her eyes. She didn't care if it was dangerous! She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she didn't even try. She owed him that much at least. If only for the fact that he was her friend. Her mind set, she stood up and gave a polite bow to the priestess. "I thank you for your time Lady Kaede." She turned to leave.

"Where will ye go child?"

Kagome knew the woman would try to stop her if she told her she was going to look for Inuyasha. Sending a small prayer of forgiveness, she prepared a lie for the old woman. "I think I would like to look around the village if that's okay."

Kaede gave a small nod. "Very well. Come back here when ye are tired. Ye may stay here until we can return ye home. And do not stray too far; there are many dangers for a young girl aside from demons."

'_Your time and mine Lady Kaede.'_ "Thank you." Kagome threw her a smile before lifting the wicker mat that served as a door and stepping outside.

* * *

He could feel her presence like a comforting glow surrounding him. Her warmth seeped into his very soul and he imagined he could almost breathe in her scent. No…it wasn't his imagination. He _could_ smell her. The refreshing clean soap and berry smells that he recognized from when she took her bath. And underneath that, the smell of Kagome. Like sunshine and water. Like warmth and light. If any of those had a sent, it would be this one. Comforting and energizing. Just like her. He struggled even more against the heavy weight that would force him back into the dark recesses of nothingness. He wouldn't go. Not now. Not when she was so close….

* * *

Kagome stared up at the sleeping hanyou. It was just like her dream. The only thing different was the obvious passage of time, marked by the thick vines and ivy that grew around him. _'Oh, Inuyasha…'_ She could feel her eyes start to sting with tears. He looked so peaceful… But she knew what a horrible lie it was. Kagome climbed onto the tree roots and then to one of the thicker vines that put her almost face to face with him.

"Inuyasha…"

* * *

His heart sped up as he heard her voice. It sounded so far away… But he could feel that she was very close now. If he could just wake up!

* * *

Kagome ripped away all the ivy that clung around his face and body, tearing the plants mercilessly, suddenly angry at the sight of them. She pulled uselessly at the vines that pressed him against the tree. They were to strong for her to break, but she kept pulling, tears streaming down her cheeks as she took out her frustrations on the uncaring plant life surrounding her Guardian. She yanked and wrenched at the vines until she was finally too exhausted to do anything but lean against his body and breathe heavily. Her tears had dried up, along with her anger. She now only felt a small sense of despair. She wasn't strong at all. How was she supposed to be able to free him from this curse? Turning her head to the side she saw the arrow from her dreams, still embedded in his chest. She hadn't wanted to touch it for fear of hurting him, but now… Maybe it was worth a try. He would surely forgive her for the pain if she could free him.

Straightening herself up, she reached out a hand to grasp the shaft of the arrow. As her hand came with in inches of it, she suddenly felt a tingling sensation. Unlike the balls of light in the well however, this tingling was unpleasant, like an electrical currant steadily streaming up her fingers. She hesitated. She could tell it would be painful to try, and probably dangerous, just as Kaede had said.

'_But…I have to try. He would do it for me.'_ Her mind made up, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She quickly grasped the arrow, wrapping her fingers around the smooth wood.

As she predicted, it hurt, though that was a bit of an understatement. She imagined this is what it would feel like if she were to take hold of a live power line. Jolts of pure energy streamed through her body, shaking her body in painful spasms. Her mind cried out to her to let go, and if she could properly control her body at that time, she probably would have. As it was, she couldn't pry her fingers from the arrow's shaft. Bursts of light began to go off behind her closed eyes, always a bad sign. Her lungs contracted sharply and air was a hard time coming. With her last ounce of energy she forced open her hand, feeling the flesh of her palm tear as the burnt skin stuck to the arrow. As she fell to the ground, she briefly opened her eyes and her hazy mind was still active enough to take in the fact that Inuyasha was still as peaceful looking as ever. And then she slipped into her own little world of peace.

* * *

He could feel her pain. That in itself was not surprising, as it was the same with everyone else. They got hurt, he felt pain. Such was the price of neglecting your duty. This time though, he was too far gone to actually feel what she was feeling, a small blessing he didn't know of. He could still feel that she was in pain though and his mind cried out for him to do something. But he was trying. He was fighting harder than he ever thought possible, but this was not battle of strength. It was a battle of will and determination. And he knew he could win if he tried hard enough and fought long enough. He _would _go back to her. It was only a matter of time. Unfortunately, as he suddenly felt her pain end and her warmth slip away, it didn't seem like time was on his side.

* * *

Kagome slowly woke to the sound of a crackling fire and the smell off food. Sitting up suddenly, she let out a small groan as her body protested loudly to her action. 

"Ah good, ye are up."

Kagome looked across the fire to see the old priestess watching her with a concerned expression. "How do ye feel?"

Kagome swallowed, her throat feeling scratchy and raw as though he had been shouting for hours. "Like I've just run ten miles in five minutes." Her voice came out as a hoarse croak. She shifted herself to sit cross-legged, her body responding sluggishly to her minds orders. Why did everything hurt so much?

"I would say that I am surprised ye are not dead, but I suppose that I really am not. I was right to say ye have a very powerful aura. A normal person would not even have been able to get close to the tree. Ye truly must be the reincarnation of my sister to have been able to touch the arrow so freely."

"I would hardly call what I did, 'touching it freely'." Kagome winced at the memory of what had happened.

Kaede studied the girl in front of her with a keen eye. It was possible, maybe…

"Child, I believe I may have been wrong."

Kagome frowned slightly. "About what?"

"You may yet be able to lift the curse after all."

Kagome blinked owlishly, wondering if she had heard correctly. "I… I could? But, that thing nearly killed me!" She looked down at the hand that had grasped the arrow. It was covered in a thick cloth and smelled strongly of herbs. It was throbbing fiercely.

"Nay, I do not think it would have killed ye."

Kagome let her words sink in for a minute. She blamed her recent quasi-electrocution for her slowness. "You're saying…I could free him?"

"Aye. But not now. Ye are too green with your power. If I were to properly train ye, it would be possible I think. Because of the nature of this curse, only the one who placed it can lift it, but if what I believe is true, and you really are my sister reincarnated, you could be able to lift it as well."

Kagome could hardly believe her ears. If what the priestess said was true, then she would be able to set him free after all! "Then teach me!"

Kaede chuckled at the girl's enthusiasm. "Not now child, ye are too weak at the moment. Ye need to rest. I have thought about your appearance here and I think perhaps if ye were to return to the well, it would take ye home just as it brought ye here."

Kagome's eyes lit up. "Really?" Her enthusiasm faded a bit as she gave it a little more thought. "But what if I can't come back?"

Kaede shook her head. "I do not think that would be a problem. From what ye have told me, it would seem the well and your God Tree are connected to this world somehow. I believe ye will be able to return without trouble."

The young girl sighed in relief, willing to believe the priestess' words. "I think I would like to go home then." She glanced out the window of the hut. The sun was beginning to hang low in the sky. How long had she been unconscious? "My family will be getting worried about me."

Kaede got to her feet and leaned over to help Kagome to her feet. "If ye are up to the walk, I will escort ye."

"Thank you, Lady Kaede."

* * *

He was nearly there. Consciousness was only a breath away. Just a moment longer and he would be on the earth once more. He could feel it. With a final mighty push of wil, he broke through the barrier of sleep and opened his eyes. 

"What the hell?"

Why was he laying at the bottom of a well? Inuyasha sat up. Then immediately laid back down as his vision swam and his head threatened to implode. _'That didn't feel so good.' _From his flat position, he could see the roof of the well house, though not much more. The sight nonetheless made his heart leap in happiness.

'_I did it.'_ Inuyasha closed his eyes and gave a shout of joy, reveling in his achievement. He stayed on the dirt floor for a minute longer before beginning to wonder where Kagome was. Gritting his teeth, Inuyasha pulled him self into a sitting position and looked to his left and right. Nope. Not there.

"Kagome?"

No answer from her. His heart gave a loud thump in his chest and he began to worry. Why couldn't he feel himself being pulled to her? If he felt nothing, that should mean she was next to him. Right?

"Kagome!"

He remembered her being in a lot of pain before he lost track of her presence and he desperately hoped that nothing was wrong with her. And even more desperately, he hoped the reason he couldn't feel her wasn't because she was dead. Surely he hadn't fought his way back only to find her… No! He refused to believe something so stupid. She was fine. He just needed to get his ass out of this damn pit and go yell at her for being so dense as to climb on top of a dilapidated old well hole and fall through. She was fine…

Inuyasha moved to a kneeling position and prepared to stand, ignoring the stabbing pain that was coming from directly behind his eyeballs. He had to go find her. Halfway to his feet he was momentarily blinded by another flash of blue light. Not at all helping the stabbing pain. He gave a soft exclamation and covered his eyes, falling back to his knees. Suddenly he was knocked over onto his back once more and surrounded by a familiar and welcome scent.

"Oof!"

"Aaah!" Kagome gave a startled scream as she came to a landing at the bottom of the well and promptly tripped over a body. As she landed in a slightly jumbled heap atop the unfortunate person, she pushed herself up with her good hand and brushed her hair out of her eyes with the other.

"Inuyasha!" She couldn't keep the goofy, happy grin off her face as she stared down at the hanyou below her. With mild surprise, she saw he was grinning at her the same way. It only lasted for a moment though, before it was replaced by an incredulous expression.

"Did you just fall down the well _again_?" he asked in disbelief.

* * *

AN- Whew, that was longer than I thought. I was going to cut it off earlier and leave you with another cliffy, but I thought I would be nice and leave on a nicer note. By the way, my triple-o choco-chunk cookie was very yummy. Thankee agent doo. 

Q and A (this could take a while)

Q. **crazy07-** So does Inuyasha go into the past with her?

A. No, I thought it would be a little too complicated having Inuyasha there with her as she tried to free him from the tree. Something about the time space continuum and the laws of physics being broken, matter in space being unable to contain more than one of itself in the same place, yadda, yadda, yadda. You get the point don't you? Er… what was it again?

Q. **InU-DragoN-GirL**-Will Inuyasha know where they are because he's from there?

A. He won't go with her through the well, so he has no ides where she's been as of now. She will tell him later though. Hmm, I wonder how he will take it. Oh wait, I already know. Hehe.

Q. **Sarah**- Will Kagome meet Kikyo inside the well at some point and will they have a face off over Inu if they do?

A. They definitely won't meet in the well. They might meet outside the well though. :-) I'm not sure what will happen in that situation, but I don't see Kagome as the cat fighting type. I could be wrong however.

Q. **SailorKagome**- "The familiar nothingness of sleep." Does this mean that Inuyasha will become someone else's Guardian?

A. I'm not _that _cruel. Though I admit the thought had crossed my mind… LoL Just teasing. It's not going to happen.

Q/A. **Inuyasha-craver**- (Hands up in surrender) Okay, to answer previous questions as to when they will hook up… I don't know. :-( But hopefully it will get a bit more interesting at least. That's the best I can do right now. It's slow going, but Inuyasha is pretty thick, so we have to cut him a little slack.

Q. **Auxana**- Did Inuyasha fall back asleep because Kagome fell through the well and technically ceased to exist in that time and was basically 'dead'? And if she releases him in the past he won't be there in the future will he, unless it's because he's a hanyou and can live a long time and she told him when she originally fell through the well?

A. Wow, and I was paraphrasing… To answer the first question, you are correct and kudos on your perception. That is almost exactly as I had it figured in my head. I would like clear up though (in case there is any confusion), that Inuyasha brought himself back from the sleep he was in and it wasn't the return of Kagome that pulled him from it. I'll make it clearer in future chapters about that. To the next question, if she does release him in the past, he will cease to exist as her Guardian in the future, as the curse will have been broken. And finally…huh? Talk about breaking the laws of physics… I can assure you, that particular scenario will not occur, as my tiny brain cannot comprehend the sheer magnitude of its strangeness…

Q. **NekoYasha101-** Didn't she just go down the well and what did you mean by Inuyasha going to sleep? Does that mean he is leaving her and going to the next person?

A. Aaah! Don't cry! He's not going anywhere yet. Yes, Kagome went down the well and he went to sleep in her absence, but do you think a little thing like an eternal curse of sleep and servitude would keep or favorite dog-eared hero from Kagome? Not in this Fic. ;-)

Q. **NBKitty**- Did you really have to end it there?

A. Yes. Yes I did.

Q. **PippetJimmy**- She went to the feudal era didn't she?

A. I know this is probably a rhetorical question, but those little ?'s compel me… So yes, she went to the feudal era. And she'll keep going back until she gets it right, darn it!

Q. **Inu-chan's-luver**- What's gonna happen now?

A. This is probably also rhetorical, but…so many… question marks… Er… wait, what was the question again? Oh right. Uh…magic and mayhem! Yes… that'll do nicely…

Q. **Raku-Onna**- Will the Shikon be shattered again? Will Mistress Centipede and Yura of the hair make their appearances?

A. Hmm, to shatter or not to shatter. To be honest I've been thinking about that myself. I think I will follow the story line in that aspect, but I'm not sure if I will bring those two into it. Perhaps Mistress Centipede, but maybe not Yura. I just don't like her very much.

Q. **galaxy guardian**- If Inuyasha is now in "the familiar nothingness of sleep" does that mean that he's back in his time and pinned to the tree?

A. Yes it does. He doesn't know it though. As he sleeps he isn't really aware of anything. When he senses Kagome in this chapter, she is the only thing he can feel, so he doesn't realize she is standing next to him in his own time.

Q. **inuyasha4ever1**- Does this mean the next time she will find Inuyasha on the tree and free him?

A. Well, she found him. And she did _try_ to free him… that counts right?

Q. **katie12321**- When you said you're going by the Japanese school year, are you doing the five and a half days of school in a week (Mon-Fri and half day on Sat)?

A. No. Almost all of the public schools in Japan now go by the American five day school week. At the beginning of the new year (April) of '02, they officially did away with mandatory half days on Saturday. During the mid 90's they had started with one Saturday off a month, which gradually changed to two a month, and then finally all of them off. Some schools (mostly private) still have half days on Saturdays, but fortunately, Kagome's isn't one of them.

Q. **anonymous**- Is Inuyasha back in some kind of sleep between guardian jobs with Kagome in another time or does that just mean one or both of them is unconscious? Will Kagome get to meet up with him before he was made a guardian? Will she find him pinned to a tree in the past?

A. Rhetorical or not, I'll answer your questions. As you read above, he was indeed forced back into sleepy land, but was fortunately too stubborn to go fully unconscious. Kagome did meet him, (his dozing body anyways) but not before his Guardianship. As she sees him now is after the curse is well in place. And he's stuck to that darned tree tighter than the lid on the Un-opened Pickle Jar. And I'm glad I haven't disappointed yet. :-)


	18. A Difference of Opinion

Disclaimer- In a perfect world, Inuyasha would be mine. But alas, we are a flawed bunch of peoples.

AN- I shant keep you in suspense! At least not for very long.

A Difference of Opinion

Kagome gave a little cough. "Er, actually…I jumped this time."

Inuyasha's disbelieving expression only seemed to intensify at this reasonable explanation. "You jumped!"

Kagome pulled herself off of the hanyou and sat down next to him, tucking her legs under her so not to accidentally flash her undies. "Well, it's a long story as to why, but yeah. I jumped."

Now Inuyasha frowned in confusion at her words. "What do you mean it's a long story?" He gave her a quick look over. Although a bit dirty and somewhat disheveled, she was wearing the same clothing as when he had last seen her. So surely he hadn't been gone that long, right? He noticed her bandaged hand and straightened into a sitting position, grabbing her arm to look closer at it.

"What happened to your hand?" He could detect the scent of different herbs from under the wrapping. It smelled nothing like the normal medicines humans typically used. In fact, he couldn't detect any chemicals at all in the scent.

Kagome gently removed her arm from his grasp and brought her hand to her chest, covering it with the other. She looked at him somewhat sheepishly. "Actually, that's one part of the story."

"Then maybe you should start talking."

Kagome sighed and looked down to her lap. She really wasn't sure how to tell him what happened. She knew he would believe her, but wasn't sure how he would take it. He was unpredictable at best and some things she had found out were bound to make him…upset. _'Like the fact that what he does now is a pleasant experience next to what he was originally intended for.'_

"I… don't know where to start," she said, knowing in her head _precisely_ where she should start. _'So I fell down the well and ended up five hundred years in the past…what a coincidence huh?'_

"People say that the beginning is usually a good place to start. So you fell down the well." Kagome looked up sharply as he echoed her own thoughts. "And then there was a bright blue light. And I disappeared before I could jump down and grab you."

Huh? Wait a minute. _He _disappeared? "Um, don't you mean _I_ disappeared?" Her brow scrunched together slightly in confusion.

Inuyasha frowned slightly, scratching behind one ear. "Well yeah, I guess." Kagome tilted her head to the side, wondering why he had said it that way. "But then, everything disappears when I go back to sleep."

Kagome's eyes widened in shock. "You went back to sleep?"

He glared at her, looking a little peeved at her question. "Of course I did. Where the hell did you think I went when I left all of a sudden? You did notice I was gone didn't you?"

Kagome blinked at him. "Yes I noticed you were gone, but I was the one who left… Or didn't _you _notice?"

Inuyasha let out a growl of annoyance. "Of course I noticed that my entire world left! I'm not an idiot!"

Kagome was about to yell back at him when suddenly something clicked into place. _'Oh, I get it.' _When Kagome had found out she had fallen through the well into the past, she had assumed the reason Inuyasha wasn't with her was because he was still stuck back in her time. It hadn't occurred to her that he might have left her completely. _'So he never knew I had gone anywhere but the bottom of the well.' _In his mind, he thought she had been here the whole time. Perhaps a little bruised and broken, but here. Now she understood his confusion. And hers.

Inuyasha watched as the girl in front of him suddenly lost her angry expression and went still, looking down at the ground. A sudden look of comprehension came over her face and he silently wondered what she was thinking of.

"Oi, wench."

Kagome jerked her head up to shoot him an irritated look.

He rolled his eyes at her expression. She was way too sensitive sometimes. "Care to share what's going on in that head of yours?" Kagome just glared at him and for a minute he thought she was going to stay silent just to spite him.

"It's getting dark."

He blinked. Well, that wasn't exactly what he was hoping for, but it _was_ true.

"Mom is probably getting worried about me." She looked up to the top of the well as if her mother would be standing up there, waiting for her.

"Kagome…" There was a small warning in his voice.

"I know, I know." She flashed him a guilty smile. "I promise I'll tell you everything soon. I just want to make sure my mom knows I'm okay, then we can go up to my room and talk." _'That will give me a few more minutes at least.'_

Inuyasha gave an exasperated noise. "Fine, let's go then." He stood up to leave and suddenly swayed. He probably would have fallen if the side of the well hadn't been there to lean on.

"Inuyasha! Are you alright?" Kagome ran the few steps to his side and put a hand on his shoulder. He brushed her hand off irritably and straightened.

"I'm fine. I just stood up too fast," he growled, mad at himself for looking so weak in front of her. Damn it, couldn't the ice pick behind his eyes stop stabbing him for two freaking minutes?

Kagome crossed her arms, not believing a word he said, but not saying anything either.

"What? Don't look at me like that."

She raised an eyebrow and gave him an eloquent expression.

He growled again. "Shut up."

Grinning like an idiot, she said, "But I didn't say anything Inuyasha."

"You were thinking too loud then."

She just shook her head sadly and turned her back to him. If he wanted to be a tough guy, then who was she to stop him from acting stupid? She looked up to the top of the well once more. "So… how do we get out?"

"How did you get out last time?"

"I climbed the vines."

There was silence for a moment and Kagome turned to see Inuyasha looking around the walls with a frown on his face. "But…"

"I know. There aren't any vines here."

Now it was his turn to raise an eyebrow. "Then how did you climb them?"

She just shrugged. "Later."

Inuyasha bit the inside of him cheek to keep from yelling at her. The sooner they got out, the sooner she would tell him what the hell was going on. "Alright, I'll just jump us out." Here was hoping he made it in his condition.

"What? It's almost thirty feet to the top!"

Inuyasha smirked. "That's nothing. I'm half demon remember?"

Kagome looked dubiously from Inuyasha to the top and back again.

Seeing her hesitancy, Inuyasha stomped over to her and grabbed her roughly around the waist, picking her up and throwing her over one shoulder.

"Hey!"

"Just trust me would you?" And with that, he bent his knees slightly and pushed off the ground with a grunt to leap over the top of the well.

Or almost anyways. Apparently, he wasn't quite as fine as he thought. He managed to grab the ledge of the well before they could tumbled right back to where they started; only wincing slightly as his head attempted to cave itself in. His breath came heavily as he waited for the dark spots floating around his vision to go away.

"That was pretty impressive, but are we going to stay like this all night?" came a voice from against his back. Clenching his jaw, he let go of the side with one hand and grabbed the back of her shirt, lifting her off of him and tossing her unceremoniously over the edge and onto the dirt floor.

Kagome let out a small squeak that was abruptly cut off as the wind left her lungs from her unexpected landing. She lay for a moment on the floor, staring dazedly at the ceiling before fully comprehending what happened. _'A simple no would have sufficed.'_ She picked her self off the ground gingerly, trying not to use her hand, as it had started throbbing again. _'I should have mom change the bandage, it's starting to get really dirty.'_

She heard a grunt from behind her and glanced over her shoulder to see a very tired looking Inuyasha leaning over the edge of the well with his lower body still halfway in. It reminder her of the same position she had been in before, so deciding to forgive his rather rough treatment of her, she walked back to help him.

She only had her hand half way to his sleeve, when he glared at her and barked, "I don't need any help!" Snapping her hand sharply back to her side, she took a deep breath, ready to give him a rather large piece of her mind. Maybe it was the way he glared back at her defiantly, waiting for her angry words, or maybe it was the fine sheen of sweat she could see forming on his brow and his sharp, labored intakes of breath, but whichever it was, Kagome bit back her words and instead turned on her heel and left. She was out the door in the time it took Inuyasha to register the fact that he wasn't getting yelled at and blink owlishly at the empty space in front of him. Cursing darkly to himself he pulled his body the rest of the way out of the well and collapsed in a heap on the ground. He stood and leaned wearily against the side. What was the matter with him? He felt so tired. But… he never felt tired…

He had been leaning against the well for almost a minute before he realized he needed to get to Kagome's side soon. She must have been waiting for him outside since he wasn't feeling any pain that indicated she was too far away from him. Sighing wearily he made his way up the steps and through the wall, out into the dim twilight outside. His breath caught in his throat as he saw Kagome almost to her front door already. At least two hundred feet away from him. He waited for the inevitable soul searing pain that accompanied her distance from him, but it never came. Even as he watched her slide the door to her house open and go inside, he didn't even feel the familiar tugging in his chest to tell him where she was. There was just…nothing. He wasn't sure how he felt about that, though he was definitely confused about it.

After several minutes of staring at nothing, he snapped back to himself and started back to the house. It was time to find out what was going on.

* * *

"I'm really sorry." 

"Truly Kagome, you had us worried to death."

"I know, I didn't mean to."

Mrs. Higurashi gave her daughter an affectionate smile and shook her head. "You're forgiven, but won't you at least tell me what happened to your hand?" She looked down at the dirty white wrapping with concern.

"I promise I will later. But I have to go study for my test now."

Kagome gave her mom a kiss on the cheek and grabbed the plate that was waiting for her up off the counter. "Thanks for saving dinner for me."

Her mother gave a small laugh. "No trouble at all. Don't study too hard, and come back down later so I can change that bandage. It looks filthy."

"Okay mom." Kagome retreated to her room, carrying a plate of steamed rice and shoga-yaki, inhaling the delicious aroma of ginger pork as she plodded up the stairs. _'Ahh, so hungry…'_ By the time she was sat at her desk, half the plate was gone. As she polished off the rest of her dinner, she began to notice something, or rather, the lack of something. _'Why is Inuyasha being so quiet? I would have thought he would be pestering me to get on with it by now.' _

Setting her plate aside, she swiveled around in her chair to face the room. "Okay, I know I've been stalling, so thanks for being so patient."

When she didn't get a reply, she began to think the reason Inuyasha was being so quiet wasn't just out of consideration.

"Uh, Inuyasha?" Was he sulking outside still? No, he had to at least be inside. He wasn't able to go very far he had said. Deciding he was probably downstairs, she picked up her plate and chopsticks and headed back down to the kitchen.

She was just setting her dishes in the sink to dry when she heard Inuyasha speak from behind her.

"Did you talk to your mother?"

Kagome dried her hands on a dish towel as she spoke. "Yes, I did. And yes, I'll tell you what happened now. Where have you be-"Kagome broke off mid-word as she turned around to leave the room.

Her jaw dropped in a small O of surprise.

Frowning in concern, Inuyasha turned around to see what she was staring at. There was nothing behind him but an empty doorway. He peeked his head around the corner to see if it was something that had passed by. Nope. Just an empty hallway. He turned around and gave a small jump when he saw Kagome was less than a foot away from him, still staring with a slightly startled expression on her face. Suddenly she reached out a finger and poked him.

"Hey! What the-" He stopped, taking in the amazed grin on her face and the fact that she was looking right in his eyes. "Um…" He moved to the left. Her eyes followed him. He moved back to the right. She still trailed him with her eyes. His ears twitched involuntarily and she gave a little giggle. He suddenly backed out of the doorway and wheeled around the corner. He turned around and waited. Sure enough, she followed after him, this time with an amused grin stretched across her lips and a decidedly mischievous glint to her eyes.

"I see you…" she said in a sing song voice. She raised her hand to give him another poke, but he knew what to expect this time and her finger made no connection as it floated harmlessly through his body.

"Aw…"

"I've warned you about touching me wench," he said, his voice a low growl. She looked up worriedly, but caught the teasing glint in his eye and grinned in return.

"Can't blame a girl for trying."

"Feh, whatever." He turned around, heading to the stairs. "Hurry up will you?"

Kagome stuck her tongue out at his retreating back. _'I wonder if I should tell him I can see the pictures on the wall through his body…'_ She tilted her head to the side, thinking. _"Nah.'_ Grinning once more, she followed Inuyasha to her room.

* * *

It was one thing to know a boy was in your room, stretched out on your bed. It was another thing to see it. But there he was, laying atop her fluffy pink comforter, head resting on her fluffy pink pillow, playing with her fluffy calico cat. It just wasn't right somehow… It must have been the pink, or maybe the fluffiness. She watched him for a minute, lounged on his side, his right arm stretched out under her pillow where his head rested, the other scratching Buyo's tummy and occasionally pulling his tail and feet. He finally looked up at her and gave her an irritated glare. 

"Stop that."

"Stop what?"

He waved to her with his hand, almost knocking poor Buyo off the mattress in the process. "That. You looking at me. It's too weird."

She frowned in confusion. "But I've looked at you plenty of times at the well and the sacred tree."

"That's different," he replied stubbornly.

"How?"

He punched the mattress with his fist, this time bouncing the cat to floor with its force. Buyo landed with a thump on his back, flopping to his side slowly before getting up and jumping back on the bed. Kagome shook her head sadly at her cat's utter lack of feline pride. Didn't he know he was supposed to land on his feet?

"It just is."

Kagome brought her gaze to the annoyed hanyou once more. "I can see you Inuyasha; therefore I am going to look at you. Get used to it." And with that, the discussion was over.

Inuyasha sat up and crossed his arms over his chest. "Are you gonna spill already?"

"I said to give me a minute."

"I did give you a minute. In fact, I gave you at least three."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Well give me one more okay."

Muttering under his breath, Inuyasha pulled a submissive Buyo into his lap and proceeded to make him do a little dance.

She shook her head again. Absolutely no pride at all… She wondered if the other cats laughed at him. That would explain why he stayed so close to home all the ti- _'Wait a minute. This is **not** what I'm supposed to be thinking of. Maybe I should just start talking and hope the words come as I need them.'_ She took a deep breath, noticing that while Inuyasha was still giving Buoy ballet lessons, his ears perked up and turned to her. She was momentarily distracted by the thought of what a cute gesture that was and how much it reminded her of Buyo. But she pulled herself forcefully back to reality and opened her mouth to speak.

"Umm…" Okay, not the most articulate beginning, but she could try again. "I fell down the well."

When she paused again, Inuyasha gave her a look and said, "I knew _that_ already, what happened next is what we're trying to get to, remember?"

'_Oh for heaven's sake, why can't I just spit it out already?' _One more deep breath, then, "I fell down the well and floated through a weird but kinda pretty blue and black space thing and ended up five hundred years in the past where I was kidnapped by a bunch of men who thought I might be a demon and brought to this old priestess woman called Kaede, though everyone calls her Lady Kaede, and she threw some salt in my face and figured I wasn't a demon since I didn't melt into a puddle or something and then we went to her house and talked and she told me you were bound to a tree by a really powerful curse, and that I might be the reincarnation of the woman who cursed you and that you weren't acting the way the curse was originally designed." All this was said in a rush, coming out in the same breath and when she stopped to gulp in some air, Inuyasha opened his mouth to say something. She held up a finger, indicating she wasn't done and he closed his jaw with a snap, waiting for her to continue.

"I had asked her if she would take me to see you, but she said I shouldn't go, so I said I wouldn't and went to look for you myself anyways, since I pretty much knew where you would be in the first place. I saw you bound to the tree and tried to free you, but ended up electrocuting myself and blacking out. Kaede found me and took me back to her home to patch me up." Here she held up her bandaged hand. "When I woke up, she told me I might be strong enough to break the curse after all, since I didn't die the first time I guess." She gave a nervous laugh at her sad attempt at humor, but saw Inuyasha didn't look the least bit amused so hurried to finish, looking down at her hands. "Anyways, she offered to train me and maybe learn a way to set you free. She also figured out how to get me home and said I would probably be able to come back to where she was any time. So I went home…uh, that's why I jumped back in the well. And that's pretty much it." She glanced up and found a very pissed off looking Inuyasha standing over her.

"Wha…what?" she stuttered tilting her head back to peer anxiously into his face.

He leaned down to until he was eye level with her. She could see fire burning brightly behind his lovely golden irises. What had she said to make him so mad? She hadn't even told him any of the bad stuff yet…

"You are _not _going back."

She blinked stupidly at him for a minute, before snapping back to her old self. Her eyes narrowed and she hoped her own brown eyes were burning as brightly as his when she growled back, "The hell I'm not."

Now it was Inuyasha's turn to blink in surprise as he stood back up straight. _'Did she just swear at me?'_ He dimly recalled her calling him a bastard once, when they had first met, but then, he had really deserved it that time. Maybe he was starting to rub off on her? Back to the matter at hand though.

"The hell you are," he came back, inwardly cringing at his clever retort. "You don't need to go back, it's too dangerous." There, that was a more fitting argument.

"But I can help you." The anger that he had seen only moments ago was now replaced by a new emotion. She almost seemed…desperate. That didn't make much sense.

"Inuyasha, you don't know what this curse was really supposed to do. It's horrible!"

Dear God, were those tears in her eyes?

"You got off light because it was never meant for humans. Kaede says that your human side is probably what kept you from feeling the full effects… but what if she's wrong? What if somewhere down the road the rest of the curse kicks in and you…you…" She trailed off here, her voice having gone suddenly very rough. He watched her take a steadying breath and cut in before she could continue.

"You're taking this too personally, calm down already. I've been under this damn spell for five hundred years already and nothing has changed, you're just jumping to conclusions." He hadn't really wanted that to come out as harsh as it did, but she needed to realize it wasn't necessary for her to risk her neck going back to his era. He still remembered what it was like back then. Especially for someone as innocent as Kagome.

"But it has changed," she said softly, lifting a hand to place it on his chest, as if to emphasize her point.

He grabbed her hand, intending to brush her off, but found himself holding on tightly as he said, "But for the better. Always for the better."

Her cheeks turned a lovely shade of pink at his words and he would have been amused if he hadn't felt is own cheeks blushing in response. He abruptly dropped her hand and took a few steps away, turning to lean against her window.

After a small pause he spoke. "I have more freedom now that I ever had before I met you Kagome. I can speak to a living person. People can see me sometimes. _You_ can see me all the time now. And I no longer feel pain when I'm not near you." Kagome's eyes widened at that and he remembered he hadn't told her that part yet. "You've already helped me more than I know how to repay. So you don't need to go jumping down any more wells on my account."

Kagome shook her head. "But don't you want to be free?"

"Of course I do. Just not if it puts you in danger."

"I won't be in danger; I'll train until I can try again without hurting myself." Why was she being so damn stubborn about this?

"Kagome, you're not going back."

She stuck her chin up in the air defiantly. "I'll go wherever I want."

He could see she wasn't going to budge from her decision, so he decided to take a different route. The dirty little path of guilt. "And what if I go back to sleep and can't wake up next time?" He knew he would never let himself go back to sleep now that he knew he could fight it and win, but he wasn't going to tell her that.

She hesitated, uncertainty clouding her features. Ah-ha! He had her now. Wonderfully predictable Kagome wouldn't want to go back now if she thought she might put him somewhere he hated to be. She bit her lip. Uh oh. She was thinking.

"But if I train hard and succeed in freeing you, you'll never have to go to sleep or be a Guardian again." Freaking logical Kagome. She _would_ have to see that side of it.

"What if you can't do it?" Nothing like putting doubt in your opponent to give you the edge.

"I will. I won't quit until you're free, even if it takes me years." Nothing like rock solid determination to knock the edge right off of your opponent. Dammit, she was _not _going to win this!

"I'd like to see how you plan on going back with me watching you."

Here she smiled confidently. "I'd like to see you try and stop me."

'_Cocky much wench?'_ So she thought she could get around him? Good luck.

"Alright. We'll see how this goes, but don't say I didn't warn you."

She just shrugged her shoulders and gave a little smile. "I guess we will."

What the heck did she look so smug for?

* * *

Kagome did very little studying that night, thanks to all the questions Inuyasha pelted her with. She didn't really mind though. He was right. She knew the stuff backwards and forwards and felt confident she would do, if not excellent, at least pretty darn good on her exam. When all of his questions were finally satisfied, she left him musing on her bed to head downstairs and talk to her mom. As her mother rewrapped her burn, wincing slightly as the cloth tore her seared skin, she gave her mother a brief account of what had happened that day. Her mother listened quietly, nodding on occasion, taking in her daughter's bizarre tale. When she was finally done, she waited for her mother to say something. 

"Honestly, I think you must have some kind of magnet in your body to attract all these strange things. I'm not sure how to feel about all of this. Do you really think you can free your friend from his curse? Oh that sounds so odd…" Mrs. Higurshi gave a tiny grin, looking vaguely amused.

"I know I can mom. I have to at least try don't I?" she looked pleadingly into her mother's face, hoping to at least hear something encouraging from her.

"Well, it wouldn't really be right to just leave him there if you could help, I suppose. But keep yourself safe dear. I don't want you to get hurt again."

"Don't worry. I learned my lesson the first time."

"Alright, you better get to bed. You need a good night's sleep for your test tomorrow."

"Okay, good night mom."

"Good night sweetie."

* * *

"Inuyasha?" It was nice to be able to talk to him and see him at the same time now. It was dark out, but she could still see his ears twitch at his name. 

"Hmm?"

"Why do you think you were able to come back after you fell asleep? I thought you usually snoozed for years before waking up."

"I didn't really go to sleep this time."

"Huh?"

"Well, I did, but I didn't."

Kagome leaned over the edge of her bed to get a better look at the boy sitting on the floor. "Care to make that statement a little less confusing?"

He grinned up at her impishly. "Maybe."

Kagome darted out a hand to grab his ear. Darnit, too slow. Her hand met only with empty air for the umpteenth time. One of these days…

"Never gonna happen wench." His grin was twice as wide now, his fangs poking out and glinting in the moonlight.

She stuck out her tongue at him and crossed her eyes.

He let out a snort of laughter at her ridiculous face. "Okay, if you must know, I was going to sleep, but I refused to let it take me.

"Why this time?"

"Because I knew you were still alive. So I fought until it freed me."

"You fought your way back…for me?" Her voice soft with awe.

Inuyasha felt his cheeks burn and hoped it wasn't obvious in the darkness. "Feh, don't flatter yourself. I just didn't want to end up not being able to talk to people again. It's really annoying having to chat with yourself all the time and having no one to bug." He glanced over to see if she was buying it.

Kagome shook her head slightly and leaned down to whisper in his ear.

"If you say so." Then she planted a light kiss on his cheek before laying back down and snuggling under her covers, turning on her side to face the wall.

"Good night Inuyasha."

Inuyasha blinked several times before slowly bringing his hand up to his cheek. His lips curved into a soft smile.

"Good night Kagome, " he replied, his voice barely above a whisper. She heard him though and a contented smile formed on her own lips as she drifted off into a dreamless slumber.

* * *

AN- Oooh look! I see a hint of fluffiness. Could this be the beginning of something? I do believe it could be… 

My thanks to angel-tears-16, katie12321, JediK1, and Raven the Shikon-Hawk for reviewing my other story. It's not my best work, but it's wanted to get out of my head forever and we all know it's never good to ignore our muse. Finally the bouncing had stopped.

Q and A

Q. **King of Chaos**- If Kagome didn't release Inuyasha from the tree then wouldn't he still be stuck there in her time? But he isn't, so doesn't that mean Kagome is 'destined' to release him?

A. He isn't so much stuck in Kagome's time, as he just wants to be there with her. Kagome _is_ destined to release him, it wouldn't be a very happy story if I ended it with 'And she tried several times to release him, but couldn't, so just gave up and went home.' I would be hunted down and dragged by my hair to my computer desk by several angry readers, then forced to rewrite it. It's a painful experience that I am hoping to avoid. I'm not sure if I really answered your question in all that, so feel free to yell at me (or just rephrase it) if you are still confused.

Q. **PippetJimmy**- What did you mean when you said she gonna keep going back until she gets it right? Do you mean until she releases him from the curse? What gonna happen then? Is he gonna keep living in the feudal era and just forget about Kagome and all the other people he once protected? Or is he gonna stay and live with Kagome in her era? And is Naraku gonna come into the story, revealing a big diabolical plot that us reviewers don't have a clue about yet?

A. Whaaa! My head is spinning… Okay we'll start one at a time here… Yep, she will keep going back and back until she finally frees our dog eared hero, would you expect any less? He will definitely not forget about her or any of the other people he was Guardian to over the years. I haven't put it in the story yet, but one of the reasons for the Guardian curse is to teach compassion. It is not merely a torture devise. I won't reveal too much, since I plan on putting it in one of my chapters, but the curse does not have to be eternal… I truly haven't decided where he will end up living. Unlike the original series character, this Inuyasha is used to the modern world; so technically, he would fit well in both places. As for diabolical plots… We'll just have to see. On a different note, I'm somewhat flattered you find my story more important than the call of nature…just don't wait too long!

Q. **angel-tears-16**- Do you have to be so evil? Will the rest of the gang be making an appearance and will Kikyo come back as a "clay pot" again?

A. Evil cliffies are a must. Gotta reel them in for the next one somehow. :-) I've actually figured out a way to fit in the rest of the cast earlier than I thought I would, so they might be coming up within the next several chapters. I'm torn on the Kikyo issue, but she will come into play somewhere. I'm just not really sure how yet.

Q. **Raku-Onna**- How can Kagome continue to go down the well if it causes Inuyasha so many problems?

A. A perfectly reasonable question. One I stumbled over myself for a couple hours at least. LoL I tried to answer some of it in this chapter, but I should be able to clear up all confusion by the next one. I promise no undue harm shall come to him. Notice I said Undue… ;-) Always happy to indulge

Q. **Sangome**- Will Inuyasha go to sleep again if Kagome crossed the well?

A. The next time she crosses the well, things will be less complicated, I promise. Can't reveal too much, but rest assured that things won't be too hard for Inuyasha.

Q. **galaxy guardian**- If Inuyasha was pinned to the tree when Kagome fell down the well, and back in the present time when she came back, does that mean his "soul" travels through time with her?

A. I have such sharp readers. You hit the nail on the right on the head. He wasn't able to travel with her and he _did_ fall back asleep at first, but because he couldn't really be with her, his spirit went back to his body, which was the closest he could be to her at the time. It won't be this puzzling to follow next time, I promise.

Q. **Kyo (imagirl)** - Do you live in Japan?

A. Not yet. :-) I live in the (way too) sunny state of Florida, in the U.S. Born and raised and totally ready to leave. LoL

Q. **InuyashaObsessed101**- If he's free then he doesn't have to stay with Kagome does he?

A. Doesn't have to, but do we honestly think he's going to let her out of his sight? Not gonna happen. :-)

C. **biawutnow**- To you, who said Kagome was a bit of a goody two shoes. Look! She said a bad word! And that makes number two. LoL

Bye for now!


	19. Just Say the Word

Disclaimer- Inuyasha does not belong to me. Yet. I'm still working on the negations. Rumiko Takahashi is one tough nut to crack I tell you.

AN- Forgive me!

Just Say the Word

Inuyasha let out a wide yawn, his eyes burning with fatigue as he sat on the floor next to Kagome's bed. He dragged his arm across his face, trying to rub himself more awake. Dropping his arm back into his lap, he blinked a few times to clear the blurriness that was trying to creep into his vision. What the heck was going on? Why did was he so… exhausted? He felt as though he could fall asleep at any moment now…

With a wrench, Inuyasha snapped his eyes open. What the _hell_? With a soft growl, he propped his elbow on one knee and rested his chin on his hand. He stared unwaveringly at the wall, daring his eyes to close again. He nodded off once more and only caught himself from falling sideways at the last second.

Okay, enough was enough.

Inuyasha picked himself off the ground and began to pace the small room. Were the forces behind his curse trying to pull him back into the depths of sleep already? Would they never give up now that he had freed himself? He paused in his third lap around the room. Was this some sort of punishment for defeating one part of the spell? To constantly be battling the pull of sleep? He drifted back to Kagome's bed and dropped to his knees, staring at her back as she slumbered peacefully. He laid a hand on her head and gently trailed his clawed fingers through her hair. Fine. If that was the price he had to pay to stay by her side, then so be it. He crossed his arms on the mattress in front of him and rested his chin on them. He closed his eyes, breathing in her clean scent and thinking determinedly to himself, that it would take a lot more than some stupid curse to keep him from her. His eyes remained shut as his features slackened and his breathing became deeper. His head fell to the side and his shoulders slumped as his body rested more solidly against the soft mattress of the bed.

And that was how Kagome found him in the morning.

* * *

"Good morning!"

Inuyasha jerked awake at the merry shout. _'Wha…?'_ He looked up to see a cheerful Kagome smiling down at him from a sitting position on her bed, her blanket still tucked around her lap and her eyes a little puffy from having just woken up. Just woken up… He glanced out the window and sure enough, the light in the room was coming from the rising sun outside. He jumped up suddenly, startling Kagome.

"What's wrong?"

His sleep fogged brain was still having trouble making connections. Why the heck was it morning already?

"Inuyasha?" She sounded worried now and he realized he had been staring out the window for at least a minute.

He turned to her with a shrug. "I guess I was asleep…" How bizarre was that?

"Yeah, I could see that. I thought you said you didn't have to sleep?"

He gave a small frown. "I don't."

She lifted one eyebrow and gave him a look as if to say, 'oh really'.

"I don't!"

"Uh-huh. Well you do now." He gave her a perplexed look. "What?"

"I had a dream."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah…" He trailed off in remembrance. It had been a long time since he had last dreamed.

"What was it about?"

He turned back to the window suddenly, his cheeks warming slightly. "I uh, don't really remember."

Not being able to see the slowly darkening red of his face, Kagome took his word.

"Oh well, that's how it usually goes." Slipping out of bed she stretched and gave a happy sigh. "I slept great last night. How about you?"

"Er, alright I guess." He realized as he said this that all his pains from yesterday were gone. In fact, he felt pretty damn good. He grinned. Maybe this wasn't such a bad thing then. Remembering his dream once again and a certain raven haired girl who had been at the center of it, he concluded that it wasn't really too bad at all.

* * *

'_So many questions…'_ Kagome looked down at the thick stack of papers sitting on her desk, held together by a single staple. She was surprised it had gone all the way through.

"You have until ten thirty. Begin."

Kagome looked up at the clock. Almost three hours. She hoped she could finish in time. Flipping over the front page of the booklet, she glanced over to the window. Inuyasha flashed a thumbs-up from the ledge he was sitting on and mouthed the words 'good luck'. She smiled back. Feeling suddenly more confident than she had a minute ago, Kagome picked up her pencil and immersed her self into the wonderful world of eighth grade math finals.

* * *

It was down to the last ten minutes. Only three questions left. She was going to make it! Plowing through the problems with renewed energy, she finally finished, turning over the last page so it was upside down and leaning back in her seat with a sigh. She glanced around at the other students and saw that almost all of them were still writing furiously on their scratch paper and coloring in the tiny little bubbles in their packets.

'_I'll have to thank Inuyasha later for all his help. There's no way I would have gotten through this without him.' _Looking over at the window once more she saw him leaning against the side with his head tilted back and his eyes closed. Maybe he was taking a nap. It _was_ pretty quiet in here. As if sensing someone watching him, Inuyasha opened his eyes and turned his head to look around. Seeing it was Kagome, he jumped of the ledge and stretched.

"How did you do?"

She propped one elbow on her desk and rested her head on her hand, letting her hair fan around her face to hide her expression from the rest of the class. She gave him a cocky grin and mouthed the words 'piece of cake'.

"See I told you that you'd be fine."

She just rolled her eyes at him. 'I know' her lips formed. Suddenly a beeping sound came from the front of the class, signaling time was up. Several groans went up from the students.

"Okay class. Pencils down. That means you Fusashi." The boy in question hurriedly dropped his pencil to his desk, grinning innocently.

"Leave your tests on the corner of your desk face down. Make sure your name is on it. You may go." Automatically Kagome stood up with her class and gave a respectful bow to her teacher before gathering her things and walking to the door.

"Wow, that was one long test," said Yuka as she joined her. Kagome turned and nodded in agreement.

Eri then joined them and nodded her head also. "I know what you mean; I didn't even get through half of the last page." She hung her head despondently. "I hope I did well on the rest."

Yuka giggled. "I actually just guessed on at least a quarter of them."

They waited outside the classroom for Ayumi to catch up. She jogged over to them, a wide smile on her face. "Hey that wasn't so bad, huh guys?"

Yuka and Eri shook their heads sadly, but Kagome patted her fondly on the shoulder and said, "It definitely could have been worse."

The girls walked of together to get some lunch, chatting about their other exam for the day. There would only be two classes that day since the tests would take so long. Kagome had gym next and she wasn't really looking forward to running laps.

* * *

"Okay ladies, you have sixteen minutes to run two miles. That's eight laps and I'll be keeping track of how many you run, so don't think you can cheat. On my whistle, ready…set…" The teacher blew her whistle, sending a shrill noise into the air that pierced right through Inuyasha's head, making him wince and flatten his ears against his skull. One of these days he was going to yank that thing right out of the lady's mouth and shove it straight up her-

"Hey watch it!" Damn woman almost took his head off waving that stupid clipboard around. Why the heck was he standing here anyways? He could stand anywhere he wanted now. He leapt across the track and settled himself in the middle of one set of bleachers, watching the action below him. The boys were currently in the center field of the track, doing their push-ups and sit-ups. They would switch off after another twenty minutes or so. Frankly he didn't see how running around in circles and pushing yourself off the ground repeatedly was going to accurately measure the strength one had obtained during the year, but what did he know anyways? Growing bored after a while, he hopped down from the bleachers and decided to join Kagome in her merry romp around the tarmac.

"Having fun?" he asked as he trotted along beside her. There was just the two of them at the moment, everyone else having either fallen behind or gone ahead.

"Oh yeah," she puffed out. "Loads."

"How much farther have you got?"

"About…halfway."

Spotting the teacher a little ways up, he leapt ahead and took a look at the stopwatch she was holding before joining Kagome once more.

"You've got plenty of time."

"Oh yeah." Puff, puff. "How long?"

"About eight and a half minutes."

"Good." Sweat was running down the side of her face now and she brushed it away with the back of her hand. Slowing as she came she came to a curve, Kagome rested her hands on the back of her head with her elbows sticking in the air and settle into a brisk walk, trying to relieve the stitch that was forming in her side.

"What are we slowing down for?"

"I'm tired."

"Already?"

"I just ran… a mile. Give me… a break already." Her breath still came hard, but the stabbing sensation in her side was ebbing away slowly.

"Feh, that's nothin'. I forget how weak you are sometimes."

Shooting a glare at him, she broke into a run once more. _'Weak…hmph. Well we can't all be strong hanyou dog boys, now can we?'_

Inuyasha caught up with her easily. "Don't be so touchy. I didn't mean you personally. I just meant humans in general."

"That makes me… feel so much better." But she smiled anyways, accepting his lousy excuse for an apology.

"Now hurry your ass. Just pretend you're late for school or something."

"Or I could pretend… I'm trying to… get away from you."

"Whatever works for you, wench."

* * *

Kagome trudged home, legs aching and arms like spaghetti. _'Thank goodness I only have to do that once a year.' _

"Boy, I could use a nap." She grinned over at Inuyasha, who was walking beside her, staring up at the sky with his arms crossed behind his head. She waited for him to berate he for being unfit. He titled his head took look at her from the corner of his eye, but didn't say anything.

"I'm so tired; it feels like I just ran two miles…" Still nothing.

"Maybe it was something I ate." Ah, finally he cracked a smile.

"Or it could be because you actually did run two miles."

Kagome faked a look of enlightenment. "You know I think you're right."

"Feh. You're so weird sometimes."

"Yup."

* * *

"Mom, I'm home!" Kagome shouted as she kicked off her shoes by the door. Hearing no response, she wandered about through the house in search of her.

"Mom?"

"She and the kid went out shopping." Inuyasha's voice came from the kitchen. She joined him and saw the note he was pointing to.

"Hmm, be back by 7:00, buying new shoes for Souta, bringing home Bento, don't study too hard, love mom." Ahh, okay.

Grabbing a soda from the fridge, she flashed Inuyasha a bright smile. "Ready for chemical formulas?"

He groaned and rolled his eyes. "God I hate that stuff. Who the hell came up with molar mass anyways? Why would you want to know how to weigh something you can't even see?

Kagome shrugged and sipped her soda as she walked to her room. "You're definitely asking the wrong person."

She had only been reviewing her notes for about twenty minutes before she felt like ripping her hair out in aggravation. More from the griping hanyou next to her than the periodic table in front of her. Chemistry may have been a frustrating subject, but it was nothing next to the whining of a bored half dog demon.

Said half dog demon was currently pacing back and forth behind her desk chair. She could see him from the corners of her eyes. On her right. Two seconds later, her left. Two more seconds, on her right. Two more seconds, her left. It was driving her crazy. The madness had to be stopped.

"Inuyasha, if you aren't going to help, why don't you go outside or something?"

He stopped pacing. Oh thank goodness. "And do what?"

"I don't know…" _'Stop pestering me.'_ "Take a walk or something."

"Where to?"

'_Anywhere but here!'_ "Go, I don't know… go see what gramps is doing."

"Feh, why would I want to do that?"

'_Take a hint already!' _"Because… I asked you to…." Kagome managed to get out between clenched teeth.

"Nah, what kind of Guardian would I be if I just left you alone whenever I felt like it?"

'_One with his hair still attached to his head.' _"It'll be fine Inuyasha. All I'm doing is studying and we both know you couldn't figure out the chemical compound of salt if your life depended on it." At his blank stare she sighed sadly. "Sodium chloride, Inuyasha. I learned that one in elementary school."

Crossing his arms angrily, Inuyasha glared at her and said, "I was about to say that, just so you know."

Kagome dropped her head wearily into her hands. "Take. A. Walk."

"Fine," was the gruff response. She looked up and saw a pouty looking Inuyasha walking to her door.

"Thank you," she called after him as he disappeared through her door.

"Whatever."

'_Ahh, peace and quiet. Now back to stupid elements.'_

* * *

"Kick me out. Stupid girl. 'Go take a walk.' Okay, what the hell am I supposed to do now? You already know where you damn grandfather is. Same place he is every day. Why do I have to go all the way out here just to see that? Stupid girl." Inuyasha kicked at a stone in the path as he muttered to himself. Why'd she have to go and get so pushy all of a sudden? She never minded him being there before. Damn moody women. Always changing their minds. Actually, Kagome was usually pretty consistent. Really though, why did she have to go and kick him out like that? He wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary.

Inuyasha stopped suddenly, a thought occurring to him. Maybe she wanted him out of the way… so that she could be alone. With out him watching her, she could go somewhere with out him knowing… Like the well!

Inuyasha growled and clenched his fists. So she thought she was smart huh? Thought she could get him out of the way and sneak off without him? "Ha! I almost fell for it wench, but you can't outsmart me like that. Very convincing, pretending to study so hard like that."

He turned around and raced back to the house, determined to catch her in the act. _'You'll have to do better than this to get the better of me Kagome!'_

Inuyasha stopped outside her door and crouched down in front of it, waiting for her to make her move.

* * *

Kagome stood up and stretched her muscles, rubbing her butt to regain some of the feeling in it. Glancing at the clock she saw it had been almost two and a half hours since she started. _'Wow, I can't believe he left me alone this long. I'll have to thank him when he gets back.'_ She glanced back to her desk and figured she could use a break. She was almost done anyways. Only a few pages of notes left to go over. She wasn't sure how much of what she had just went over would be retained until the next day, but she was doing her best and that's what counted. Right?

'_Mom's not home yet, but I think I'll have some chips. I'm starving.'_

With the happy thought of chips to come floating in her head, she opened her door with a smile on her face.

"AH HA!" Inuyasha came flying at her with an enraged expression on his face.

"Aaaahhh!" Kagome screamed at his sudden shout and tripped over her feet as she hastily backpedaled into her room, landing with a heavy thump on her just un-numbed backside. Inuyasha slammed the door shut and advanced on her with fire burning behind his golden eyes. For one wild moment, she thought Inuyasha was going to hit her as he stomped over to her and brought a fist swinging into her face. She flinched and shut her eyes.

"I knew it!"

Huh?

She cracked her eyes open and saw one finger shaking angrily at her, inches in front of her nose. Her heart slowed its jack rabbit pace as she realized she wasn't about to be punched. She belatedly remembered it would have been impossible for him to have hurt her at all. Still… he had scared the crap out of her!

She glared up at the pissed boy standing over her. "What is your problem? You scared me half to death!"

He glared right back at her. "Don't play dumb. You were trying to sneak out! Admit it!"

Sneak out?

She narrowed her eyes and stared at Inuyasha. Had he lost his mind? "What are talking about?"

He jabbed his finger closer, barely brushing the tip of her nose. "You were going to go down the well. But I figured you out. You tried to get rid of me so you could sneak off!" He smirked triumphantly as he finished. Her jaw dropped. Was he serious?

Yes. Yes he was.

"You idiot!"

Inuyasha's flattened his ears at her shout, his smirk falling from his face in favor of a frown. He dropped his hand to his side.

"Look at the clock!" Kagome pointed to the clock on her nightstand with a glower. "What time is it?"

He looked over at the clock in confusion. What he heck did that have to do with anything? "It's half past six."

Kagome stood up, and stepped closer to him, making him back up a step. "And what time did we get home?"

He looked up at the ceiling for a minute, trying to remember. "Uh… about three thirty I think."

Another step. "So how long have we been home?"

Inuyasha backed up again. "Um… about three hours?"

Step. "So how long have you been waiting behind that door?"

He stepped back once more and his back touched the door behind him. He was beginning to see where she was going with this and briefly wondered if he should just slip through the door and run like hell. "I guess… about two hours or so."

She took one more step until there was less than a foot between them. "Two and a half. More than enough time for a person to have taken a nice long walk and then come back, don't you think?"

Running away was looking very tempting about now. Why was she being so calm? Why did her eyes look so furious! "I suppose so…"

She leaned in to him, closing the gap even more. "And if a person were to sneak off while that person was away, do you think they would wait until two and a half hours later to leave?"

He began to sweat slightly and pressed himself to the door as far as he could go. "No… I guess not.."

She leaned as close as possible without becoming just a blur to his eyes. Which was pretty damn close. Any closer and they would be kissing. He was sure that was the last thing on her mind right now, but he blushed slightly anyways, cursing his stupid train of thought. He entertained the idea of kissing her anyways, just to see if she would be any less angry, but decided it would probably just piss her off more. One of his smarter restraints, he was sure.

"So Inuyasha…"

He gulped. "Yes?"

"What does this make you?"

"An idiot?"

She leaned back suddenly, a grin on her face. "That's right." She spun around and walked over to her window and looked out over the grounds towards the well. "You should think before you act."

Inuyasha was still cringing against the door, wondering what had just happened. She wasn't going to yell at him? He had been certain he was about to get his eardrums blown out by her bellows.

"Were you really waiting out there the whole time?" She glanced over her shoulder at him, an amused smile on her face.

He straightened up and crossed his arms over his chest, sticking his chin in the air as he tried to regain what little dignity was left to him. "Not the whole time." _'Just the last two hours and fifteen minutes.'_

She shook her head and turned to face the window again. "I'll bet. It didn't occur to you in the whole time that it was getting a little late to go well hopping?"

He scratched his head sheepishly. "I guess I lost track of time." She wasn't angry! This was great!

"And it didn't occur to you that I still have four days of finals left that I can't miss?"

Now that one he hadn't thought of. "Oh yeah."

"I'll be leaving after finals are over. I'll have two weeks until school starts again, so it will be a good time to start my training. I've already told my mom and Lady Kaede."

"What! When were you going to tell me!" His temper flared again as she spoke so casually about leaving, as if he hadn't already told her she couldn't go."

"Actually, I wasn't planning on telling you at all."

Anger got the better of him and he stomped over to her once more and spun her around to face him. His angry eyes met her calm and slightly amused ones. "We've discussed this wench."

"I know, it was decided that you can't stop me."

He sputtered furiously for a second. "No! That is not what we decided."

"That's right. It's what I decided." The amusement was tricking from her eyes now, to be replaced with the stubborn glint he was become far too familiar with.

He grabbed her arms and shook her slightly. "What is wrong with you? Why won't you understand that it's too dangerous back there? You have no idea what kind of trouble you can get into. There are demons crawling all over the place, just waiting to rip apart a stupid girl like you. And if you somehow manage to avoid them, there are all the bandits and thieves ready to slit your throat or worse over the clothes you wear. There are wars and battles going on all over the place. There are diseases you can catch that haven't been around for years, so you won't have a vaccine for here. You can get sick and die of all the idiotic things! Just because you had to go prove something!" He had been gripping her arms steadily harder as her talked and he suddenly felt a dull throbbing pain in his stomach that indicated Kagome was hurt. He released her abruptly, ashamed that he had taken out his frustrations by almost crushing her arms.

He looked deeply into her face, hoping he had finally scared her into rethinking what she was doing. She was biting her lip and he saw pain in her eyes as she stared back at him. Aw shit, he hadn't meant to hurt her. "I'm sorry Kagome. Are your arms okay? I didn't mean to do that."

Confusion flashed across her features and she shook her head. "My arms are fine." He noticed then that she had bitten through her lip as the scent of blood wafted its way to his sensitive nose. Why the hell had she done that?

"I…" He tore his eyes from her mouth as she spoke and looked into her eyes once more, noticing the pain was still here. But if he hadn't hurt her, then why…

"I'm not going just so I can prove something Inuyasha."

His lips tightened in frustration.

"I'm not going just because you don't want me to okay? And I know there are dangers. Lady Kaede told me all about the risks of being a priestess and training to be one. It's not about me."

He frowned at that. "What…"

She placed her hand over his mouth and shook her head. "Listen to me please."

He gave her a reproachful look but nodded anyways. She removed her hand, much to his disappointment. "You may have trouble believing this, but I know that I'm not invincible. I'm not strong, and I don't have a lot of experience dealing with the supernatural and the demon world. It… it's scary. It frightens me. But…" She looked down as she felt tears starting to burn in her eyes. Inuyasha reached under her chin and brought her eyes up to meet his once more. The pain in them was even more vivid now, along with something else he couldn't identify.

"But it scares me even more to think of you all alone for the rest time. It frightens me to think you might never be able live your life the way you want to. It terrifies me to think you might disappear one day and that I'll never see you again. I'll never see you smile at me, or yell at me for being stupid or just be there for me when I trip on a crack in the sidewalk. But I would rather trip over every crack in the world than leave you the way you are now. You're my friend Inuyasha. I couldn't live with myself if I just sat back and did nothing for you. Why can't you understand that?"

"Kagome…" Her friend? He was her friend? He couldn't keep the bubble of happiness from rising in his chest at her words. He grabbed her and hugged her tight to his chest, savoring her warmth and inhaling her incredible scent. Her words touched him deeply, but there was no way he was letting her go back five hundred years to fight off demons and curses for his sake. He couldn't let her put herself in danger like that.

Silent tears slipped down her cheeks as she held onto Inuyasha. She rested her head against his chest and sighed softly.

"Don't cry." She barely heard his soft whisper against her hair.

"I'm not." She sniffled.

"Liar."

She grinned at that. "I know."

She pulled back and leaned back to give him a smile. She caught her breath when she looked into eyes. She loved his eyes; they were such a beautiful color. Right now they were the softest shade of champagne gold as they shone back at her with warmth and happiness. Had she done that? She felt fingertips one her cheek and realized he was brushing away her tears.

"Wha…"

"Don't want your mom to see you crying."

A frown creased her forehead. "My mom?"

Suddenly she heard the sound of the front door sliding open and several sets of feet shuffling in the hallway.

"Kagome, we're home!"

"Hey sis, come see my new shoes!"

Kagome grinned at her brother's obvious glee at his new sneakers. He was almost as bad as a girl sometimes. She grabbed Inuyasha's hand and dragged him to the door. "Come on Inuyasha. Let's go see Souta's new shoes."

He allowed her to drag him, but gave a huff and said, "What do I care about a pair of shoes?"

She just stuck her tongue out and continued downstairs, still feeling the brush of his fingers against her cheek. He could argue til he was blue in the face, but she knew what she had to do. In her mind, there really wasn't anything else she could do.

* * *

"Have a fun break Yuki! Make sure you bring me a souvenir." Kagome waved as the last of her friends disappeared around the corner. Kagome sighed happily. Freedom! She glanced over at Inuyasha, who hadn't taken his eyes off her since she had gone to school that morning, as if she would suddenly jump up from her school desk and make a fifteen minute dash to the well. Okay, so… quasi-freedom! She was beginning to feel very self-conscious under his constant scrutiny.

"Do you have to keep looking at me?"

"Yes."

Well that answered that.

She sighed heavily and hung her head. "I'm not even leaving until tomorrow."

"You're not leaving at all."

They had gone over and over this through the week and Kagome had come to the conclusion that neither of them was going to budge in their decisions. Unfortunately for Inuyasha, he didn't know that Kagome had a secret weapon at her disposal. If it worked that was.

* * *

Kagome packed her bag with everything she thought she would need for her trip. She planned on staying a couple days before coming home to spend time with her family and hopefully a still there Inuyasha. She was really hoping he would still be here when she came back. She knew there was the possibility he would fall back asleep and not wake up next time, but she had to take the chance. This was too important to back out over something as selfish as missing him when she was home. After staying home for a day or so she would go back for another couple day and then so on and so on until break was over. She figured she could come back on the weekends when school started.

She felt Inuyasha's eyes on her as she went over everything for the second time, making sure she hadn't forgotten anything. She glanced up and then immediately back down again as his eyes bore into hers angrily. She knew he wanted to say something, but they had already argued circles around the subject and she had finally told him to either shut up or go away. So of course he had shut up. He wouldn't trust her not to sneak out if he left. What was she going to do, jump out the second story window? Hmmm…

Nah. She wasn't graceful enough not to sprain an ankle on the landing.

Straightening, he turned to face the hanyou leaning against her desk. She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head. "Are you going to stay like that all night?"

"If I have to," he growled. Truth was he had stayed up the last three nights just like this, making sure she didn't slip away in the middle of the night, despite what she said.

Kagome just shrugged her shoulders and went to turn the light off. "Suit yourself." The night swallowed the room as the light flicked off. Crawling under her covers, she reached over and set her alarm for early the next morning.

"Good night Inuyasha."

"Night."

She grinned at his childish tone as she snuggled under the covers. Too bad he didn't have a chance.

* * *

Inuyasha watched the sleeping girl as stood at his post. She was so calm about this. It annoyed him that she wasn't worried about him at all. It made him nervous too. What was she planning that she was so certain he couldn't stop her?

The night wore on and the lack of sleep finally caught up to the hanyou boy as he leaned wearily against the desk. Accustomed to not having to sleep at night, he didn't recognize his body's need for sleep after staying up for so long. So it was only natural that his body took over and let him drift off as he closed his eyes for just a moment. Just a moment…

* * *

Kagome awoke to the darkness of night. She quietly rolled over and glanced at Inuyasha, fully expecting him to tell her to go back to sleep. She was mildly surprised to see him asleep as he leaned cross-armed against her desk. He could of course be faking, but there was something about the relaxed set of his features and the way his shoulders were slumped that made her think he was genuinely out for the count. Small wonder since her had been staying up all week watching her. She knew he had been up all those night since every time she would roll over in her sleep she would see him standing by her desk looking at her, or gazing out the window. It should have weirded her out, to know someone was watching her that closely, but somehow, it had made her feel safe.

She looked to her clock and saw that it was about four thirty in the morning. Early still, but she could sleep in Kaede's hut for a while once she got there. She silently slipped off her covers, keeping an eye on Inuyasha all the while. She hadn't really planned on getting up this early, but this was a good opportunity to get going without a confrontation. She decided to not risk changing into day clothes and kept her blue flannel pajamas on instead. She had an extra set of clothes in her bag anyways. She gently lifted her backpack from the floor and tip-toed to the door. She held her breath as she opened the door, silently thanking her grandfather for oiling the hinges not too long ago. She left the door partway open instead of risking closing it too loudly. She padded down the steps, quiet as a mouse, avoiding all the squeaky spots. She slipped on her shoes as she reached the door and said a silent goodbye to her family, mentally apologizing to them for not waiting til the morning.

She slid open the door, still being careful to not make a sound, remembering how good his hearing was. She closed it behind her as noiselessly as possible and breathed a soft sigh of relief as she turned around and made her way to the well house, her footfalls making only the smallest of whispers in the night.

* * *

Inuyasha's eyes snapped open. _'What? I fell asleep? Dammit!' _He shook his head to dispel the remnants of his dream and focused his gaze to Kagome's bed.

"Shit!" Inuyasha jumped away from the desk in fury. How had he let this happen? He trained his ears for any sound of her moving, but couldn't hear anything but the wind howling outside and the sounds of her family sleeping peacefully in their beds. He sniffed the air and found her scent to be still fresh. His heart picked up. She hadn't left that long ago. He jumped to the window and his heart jumped all the way to his throat as he saw her nearly to the well house already. Letting him self fall through the window he leapt to the ground and sprinted after her. She was to the door now and was just about to go in.

"Kagome!"

She turned around at his voice, he face a mixture of surprise and guilt. She dashed inside and shut the door behind her. Yeah like that was going to slow him down. He was through the door just as she reached the bottom of the steps.

"Kagome stop!"

She turned around again, her hand on the rim of the well. Her eyes pleaded with him as she spoke. "Inuyasha please let me go. I'll take care of myself I swear."

He growled angrily and crouched down, preparing himself to leap after her. "No."

Kagome closed her eyes and sighed. She seemed to be thinking of something. When she opened her eyes, he saw a determination there that scared him. She really thought she was going to get her way?

"I'm going. You can either let me go, or I can make you let me go."

What was that suppose to mean? "You're going to have to make me then!" He bared his teeth in resolve and his ears flattened against his head.

Kagome blinked at his gestures, strongly reminded of a dog at the moment. She would have to say it after all. Looking at his pose, crouched on the ground, fangs bared, and ears flattened, she knew what to say suddenly. Having eluded her this whole time, she finally knew what to say. Giving a final shake of her head and saying a quick prayer in her head, she addressed Inuyasha for what she hoped wasn't the last time.

"Inuyasha…" She lifted one leg over the side of the well and Inuyasha tensed preparing himself to leap over and grab her.

"Osuwari."

A pink light glowed briefly around Inuyasha's neck, startling him, before sending him crashing face first into the ground.

Oh good. So it _did_ work.

* * *

AN- For those of you unfamiliar with the undubbed Japanese version, osuwari is the Japanese command for telling a dog to sit. I like it better than 'sit boy', so I used it instead. Plus I just love the way she says it! Osuwari!

He he he

Let's hear it for evil _and_ confusing cliffies!

Q and A

No, sorry. I'm just too darned lazy at the moment. I promise to answer everything next time. Pinky swear.

I'm currently busy with school work (yes, some of us willingly go to school during the summer), which is why my update wasn't as punctual as I had hoped it would be. Hopefully I will get the next one out in the next couple days.

Thank you for all your wonderful reviews and praise/encouragement. I love it!

Oh and thanks to InU-DragoN-GirL who is always concerned for me when I slip into the background for too long. I promise not to worry you too much next time. :-)

Bye for now.


	20. So It Begins

Disclaimer- So what… you don't own Inuyasha either... :-P

AN- Please read the notes on the bottom after the story. Thanks!

So you aren't confused, the first part until the line is a flashback.

So It Begins

"_What's that?"_

"_They are prayer beads." Kaede showed her the rosary in her hands. _

"_What do we need it for?" Kagome was curious as to why they had stopped by the sacred tree where Inuyasha was sleeping before going back to the well. When Kaede had pulled what looked like a black beaded necklace with fangs out of her robes, she had become even more interested._

"_Ye will not have an easy time getting back here if Inuyasha has his say. As a Guardian, it will be his duty to be with ye at all times. He will not let ye go so easily. The prayer beads shall serve as an anchor for a subduing spell I will place on him."_

"_A subduing spell?"_

"_Aye. Watch." Kaede held the rosary up with both hands, closing her eyes and mumbling words that Kagome couldn't understand. The beads began to shine with a bright white-pink light. Kaede let go of them, bringing her fingers together in front of her, while the necklace hung in midair. Suddenly, one by one the beads began to shoot themselves toward the dormant hanyou, settling around his neck until they were exactly as they were before. _

"_Wow..."_

"_Now all ye need to do to complete the spell is to say the word of subjugation." _

"_Word of subjugation? What word?"_

"_Only ye can choose the word. But ye must wait until ye go back to your own time. This spell is designed to subdue the spirit, so it w ill not work unless his spirit is present to hear the word."_

"_Oh, all right."_

* * *

'_Yes! It worked! Kind of violent though...'_

Kagome basked in her triumph for only a couple seconds before concern kicked in. She hadn't expected such a forceful response from the subduing spell. Why wasn't he moving? Cautiously, Kagome removed her leg from the well and started up the steps to check on the prone hanyou.

"Inuyasha? Are you...okay?" About halfway up the steps, she saw him twitch and begin to lift his head. It looked as though he was having a tough time of it. When his face was fully raised from the floorboards, she saw death gleaming in his eyes, directed fully at her.

"Eh heh heh... now don't be mad..."

He slowly managed to pull up the top part of his body and Kagome retreated down the steps in haste.

"What. The. Fuck. Was. That." The words were ground out in a soft yet strangely threatening tone.

'_Oh boy. He's pissed.'_ "Um... a subduing spell that lady Kaede gave me. Pretty effective huh?"

He didn't say anything until he was finally up on his feet once more, fully upright instead of crouching this time. At least he wasn't preparing to jump on her. His eyes glinted dangerously as he leveled his gaze on her.

"Don't even think about trying that again."

Despite his intimidating manner, Kagome lifted her chin stubbornly in defiance. "Then don't try to stop me and I won't use it again."

Inuyasha's cold anger was suddenly replaced by an annoyed expression. "You planned on doing this the whole time didn't you? That's why you've been so sure I couldn't stop you." He set his shoulders and crouched down once more, readying himself to leap over to her. "Well I hope your little spell works again, wench. Cause I'm not letting you go without a fight!"

"Osuwari."

"Gaahh!" Once more, Inuyasha found himself tasting the dirt and dust at the top of the steps. He was pretty sure this would be getting old _real_ fast.

"I'm sorry Inuyasha. I'll be back in a couple of days, okay."

"I won't be here!" Though slightly muffled from his mouth being pressed against the ground, Kagome understood what he said and heard the petulant inflection of his voice.

"I hope that's not true, but if you aren't, I promise I won't quit trying until you're free. I swear it. I'll see you again. Until then, try to stay out of trouble."

Inuyasha lifted his head just in time to see her settling on the ledge, steeling herself for the jump.

"Kagome!" He must have sounded as desperate as he felt, because she looked over at him quickly, alarm in her eyes.

Seeing he was alright, she flashed him a bright smile. "I'll be fine, really. Don't worry." With one more smile, she pushed off the ledge and dropped into the well.

A blue light flashed from its depths and faded a second later. Feeling the effects from Kagome spell wearing off he leapt to the edge and peered down into the darkness beneath him. But she was already gone. And he was still here. He blinked. He was still here?

"Ha!" Jumping up on the edge of the well he punched one fist to the sky, mocking the forces that be for having overcome their stupid sleep effect. "Take that!"

Too bad he had no one to talk to for two days.

Dropping back to the ground, he poked his head over the well once more, as if be sheer force of thought, Kagome would reappear at the bottom and say, 'oh I changed my mind'. He hoped she kept herself safe without him. Sighing deeply, he leaned on the well, propping himself up on his elbows. It was going to be a long, boring couple of days.

* * *

'_Stupid vines.'_ Kagome had the feeling she was going to be very good at climbing by the time she was through here. Speaking of which...

"Oh no! I forgot to leave the ladder in the well. Jeez... I hope Inuyasha is still there when I get back. And that he's not too mad at me..." Kagome muttered softly to herself as she climbed up the leathery plant, glad it was still cool enough in the mornings to keep her from getting too sweaty. As it was, perspiration was already tickling the back of her neck and slipping down her forehead into her eyes.

'_Stupid backpack.'_

After a small eternity, Kagome heaved herself over the side and placed her feet on the ground while trying to catch her breath. Deciding it was probably not the smartest idea to stick around in strange forest after dark, Kagome parted from the well and began the short journey to Kaede's village.

She was too far away to hear the strange whispers coming from the well as she walked away.

"Soon...very soon..."

She wouldn't have understood the eager murmurs anyways.

* * *

Lady Kaede woke to the early morning light shining through her window. Time to begin the day. This was the day that young girl was supposed to start her training. Rubbing a hand over her face to rid herself of any lingering tiredness, the old priestess hauled herself of the floor and stretched her old bones til they popped audibly. Feeling slightly more awake, she began to feel the familiar feeling of spiritual powers coming from the corner of her home. Turning around, she gave a small chuckle at the sight of Kagome curled up in the corner, head resting on her back pack.

Kaede walked over to the girl, taking in the odd clothing, and bent down to give her a shake.

"Wake up child. I trust ye made it here safely?"

Kagome's eyes blinked open and she gave a wide yawn before sitting up. "Ahh, what was that Lady Kaede?"

"Did ye have any troubles on the way here?"

"Oh no. It was very quiet."

Kaede nodded and stood. "That is good, but in the future ye should wait until I am there with ye. At least until ye are able to defend yourself against the demons that lurk within the forest."

Kagome gave her an apologetic smile as she stood also. "I'm sorry for not waiting, but I was trying to get out of there without causing a fuss."

"Ah, so Inuyasha and ye did not confront one another."

"No, we did. Fortunately, your spell worked so I could get out of there."

Kaede was busying herself with the fire in the center of the room. "So ye found your word?"

Kagome shuffled her feet on the ground. "Er... yeah."

"May I ask what ye chose?"

"I, uh, it was... osuwari." Kagome blushed, waiting for the older woman's response. She heard a soft chuckle and relaxed a little.

"Strangely fitting for a half dog demon."

Kagome gave a small laugh herself. "I wish I had chosen something else, but it was the most fitting thing I could think of at the time."

"Ah well, it cannot be changed once in place. I shall have breakfast momentarily, then we shall begin your training. Perhaps ye would like to change?"

Remembering she was still in her pajamas, Kagome nodded. "Yeah okay."

"By the way child. Have ye ever used a bow and arrow before?"

"Um, no."

Kaede pointed one finger in the air with a grin. "Then we shall start with that first. I have a feeling ye will be a natural."

* * *

AN- Sorry for the shortness, but I'll have more soon. Regarding the message at the top, I would like for anyone who is interested in future stories to take a look at my profile page and tell me what they think.

Q and A

Q. **crazy07**- So every time Kagome goes through the well Inuyasha goes into this sleep-like thing right? So when she lifts the curse will he remember her or not?

A. Absolutely! Or will he... No no! He will, I promise:-)

Q. **galaxy guardian**- How come Kagome can see through Inuyasha?

A. Basically because he is only a spirit and has no real body. He's beaten through part of the curse by himself, but ultimately it will be up to Kagome to break him completely free. And until that day comes... see-through Inuyasha. He will still be solid looking by the well and tree though; that hasn't changed.

Q. **Raku-Onna**- How will Inuyasha react to seeing the shikon again? Will he try to take it?

A. Ahh the mysteries of life. I know them not. This particular aspect is still up in the air for me. It could go either way. Good or bad that is. I'm always open to reader response though, so if anyone would like to see a particular reaction, I'm not adverse to suggestions.

Q. **InuyashaObsessed101**- Will Kikyo be interfering?

A. I've decided yes, though not when. Things will be slightly different from the series however. And by slightly, I mean almost completely. And by almost completely, I mean I really don't have a whole lot in mind yet. :-)

Q. **LukeShaehl**- When Kagome went through the well and found Inuyasha on the tree you showed from Inuyasha's point of view that he could sense and feel her near, but how would that be possible since he is in the future. The Inuyasha Kagome was trying to take the arrow out of would have been his past self and wouldn't know who Kagome is. Unless when he goes to sleep he goes back to his body 500 years in the past, but if that happened what would happen to the Inuyasha who was already in the past?

A. (I shall have to roll up my sleeves for this one) Okay. Let's see if I can explain my reasoning without delving to far into the vast world of metaphysics. Inuyasha in this story thus far is separated into two places. One being his physical body and the other being his spirit. Whilst his body slumbers away peacefully, his mind and spirit are sent through time to different people. Body snores away oblivious to this, yet goes through time also. In this case fifty years. The total time that Inuyasha's spirit has been on the actual plane of reality is the same amount of time that his physical body has been laying around in the past. The time 'between jobs' is spent in a sort of suspended animation, if you will. Hence the feeling of having just closed his eyes before being woken again. His spirit does not actually go back to his body, simply because he would have to start right back at the beginning again each time. When she goes down the well for the first time, his spirit was automatically drawn to her since she wasn't really dead, but unfortunately the span of time was too great and he could only find his way back to his body instead of at her side. He was only able to make it back to her time by sheer force of will. We all remember how stubborn he can be right? I hope I have answered your question, but if you spot any holes in my answer, feel free to let me know. I'm always up for a good argument on theory. Oh and congratulations on having the longest answer in the history of this Fic. LoL

Q. **Inu-chan's luver**- What's going to happen next?

A. Only time will tell. Oh, and me too. Just not right now.

Q. **Kira the Mizu Ryuu**- When does Kagome get to grab Inu's ears? And when will Sesshy play a part in the story? And lastly are other demons 'guardians' of humans and can Kagome see and speak with them too?

A. The first is entirely up to Inuyasha, I have absolutely no say in the matter. Sesshoumaru won't be here for a while; in fact he might have to wait for a sequel. Yes, there are other demon Guardians, someone had to cast the first spell after all. But no, Kagome cannot see or hear them.

Q. **Inuyashasonly1**- Is Inuyasha going to have a major emotional tie to Kikyo like he does in the anime? What about Naraku?

A. The Kikyo/Naraku issue is going to be one twisty path when I come to it, but fortunately I will have plenty of time to think it over. But just so I don't sound too vague, be warned, I have evil plans in store for our undead priestess. It's not going to be pretty, but something had to piss her off enough to want to give Inuyasha an eternity of hell right?

Q. **PippetJimmy**- Is Kagome's mom gonna finally be able to meet Inuyasha? Is the rest of the Higurashi family gonna get the chance to meet our favorite hanyou? Ever since Inuyasha "went to sleep" and fought to wake up, Kagome can see him now, is he gonna stay like that? Or is it just temporary, and then when Kagome breaks the curse, he'll go back to normal? And how does Kagome plan on going back to the feudal era without Inuyasha noticing or stopping her? And when she goes back, will Inuyasha actually be able to go back with her? When she goes back, will he just "fall asleep" again? Will Kikyo be resurrected in this story? And finally, will Kagome ever find out the reason as to why Inuyasha was trying desperately to avoid her...you know...that one day. Where her turned around when she was in the middle of changing...and saw something that he wasn't meant to see...but he liked it anyway?

A. You with your damn questions all over the place. :-O So many... LoL Alright let's see here... Yes Kagome's family will eventually be able to see and meet Inuyasha. She will still be able to see him all the time now and once the curse is broken he will be awake and no longer see-through! Yea! You already know how she managed to get past him, hehe. He can't go back with her, he won't fall asleep again (unless he gets tired) and Kikyo _will_ make an appearance later on. And it's probably best if Kagome never ever ever finds out about that day... And long reviews are the best:-)

Q. **BadLlama1l14**- I understand that the Tree plays a major part in the whole story and that the Shikon no Tama will most likely make another appearance, but did Naraku play as large of a part in deceiving Kikyo and Inuyasha as he did in the original version? Is everything the same up until that point?

A. A completely valid question. Yes, Naraku is playing a large part in the deception of Inuyasha and Kikyo, but no, it will not be the same way as in the series. It's going to be a little bit harsher. Kikyo was royally pissed off about something in my version and while attempted murder is a great reason to torture someone with a curse, something else pushed her to the edge this time.

Q. **sammi**- When did Kagome put prayer beads on Inuyasha?

A. Technically she didn't. It was Kaede, the little sneak.

Q. **Animewriter13**- So at the end, did she know that she could use that word against him? Or am I right by saying she was hoping it would work?

A. Same as in the original series, she knew just what word to use against him at the last second. Funny how things like that just pop into your head. She didn't know if it would work, but she sure was hoping. After all it was her only secret weapon. It would really have sucked if it had flopped. Couldn't you just see Inuyasha giving her a weird look before throwing her over his shoulder, speeding back to the house and tying her to the bed for the rest of her life? Not like _that_ hentai! By the way, I hope you are prepared for hurricane season; Hurricane Arlene has already made an appearance. ;-)


	21. Training

Disclaimer- Blah, blah. Yadda, yadda. Consider Inuyasha disclaimed.

AN- Thanks too all my reviewers! I love them all! I love the 'as you go' reviews too, it lets me know what you are thinking through the whole thing.

I've changed the rating on this story from T to M, just to be on the safe side. I apologize if this causes any problems to some people, but Id rather not get my story deleted over something stupid. That said...

Warning- Gore factor later on. Squeamish beware.

I have a nice surprise for you at the end too!

Training

Whoosh!

Thunk!

The arrow embedded itself in the center of the target. The fletching trembled slightly from the impact.

"Wow, dead center the first time! That was great Lady Kaede."

Kaede bowed her slightly in thanks. "Now it is your turn. Where ye paying attention to my stance and how to position the arrow?"

Kagome nodded and picked out an arrow from the quiver at her feet, notching it in the string. Turning to one side, she moved her feet apart slightly and lifted the bow, pulling back the string while aiming at the tree in the distance. Kagome took a deep breath and sighted down her finger before releasing the bowstring. The arrow shot through the air, arcing a bit.

"Aww."

It fell about ten feet short and embedded itself in the dirt.

"Do not worry too much about your first few tries. It will come with practice. Watch again." Kaede picked up another arrow and fired it again. Kagome noticed how Kaede pulled the string back much farther than she had and also aimed at little higher.

Kagome repeated her attempt, this time managing to get the arrow almost to the target.

"Much better Kagome, now let me show ye a few more things..."

* * *

An hour later, Kagome was tired, sweaty, dirty (from chasing after stray arrows) and incredibly proud of herself. She was nowhere near as good as Kaede, but she could finally hit the target. And it had only taken a few hundred tries to get to it. 

"Ye have done well child. I knew that ye would be well suited to archery."

Kagome smiled as she picked up another arrow and notched it. "I think so too. What made you think so in the first place?" She pulled back the bow string, her arm shaking slightly from all the new exercise it was receiving.

Kaede noticed and said, "I think this shall be out last one for today."

Kagome stretched the string back as far as it would go, aiming into the distance, determined to make her final arrow hit smack dab in the middle.

"But as to why I knew ye would be a natural, it was because my sister was a master archer also."

'_Oh right. Her.'_ Her concentration slipped for a second a she released the arrow, distracted by thoughts of the dead priestess.

"Aaah!" Kagome dropped her bow, tears stinging her eyes as she clutched her arm to her chest. That had hurt!

"Oh dear. Let me have a look child."

Kagome held her arm out to the priestess, biting her lip to keep from crying out again. She watched as Kaede examined the large red welt on her forearm. It was about two inches wide and four inches long and extremely swollen. But then what did she expect when something snapped across her skin at a thousand miles an hour? Well, Kaede _had_ warned her about getting her arm too close to the string. Served her right for not paying attention.

"I think," Kaede said with a smile, giving her hand a slight pat, "that now would be the perfect time to learn about healing herbs. We shall start with the ones that are good for burns."

"That sounds like a good idea," Kagome said with a pained grin. "I'll get the arrows. I think that last one flew over there somewhere." She nodded her head off to the left, past a large group of bushes. She quickly gathered all the other arrows at the target before tromping off after the stray one.

"If ye cannot find it, do not worry. One arrow is no great loss."

"Okay, I'm sure it's right over here though... aha!" Said arrow lay innocently on the ground, definitely no where near the middle of the target, but hey, there was always tomorrow. She leaned down to pick it up and saw something flash by in the corner of her eye. Something... blue.

"Huh?" Turning her head, she searched the bushes for some sign, but saw nothing. Funny...

Again she saw something flash in the corner of her eye, this time in the other direction. Spinning around, she quickly scanned area but still saw nothing. _'I'm losing it. Better get back before Kaede gets worried.' _Kagome scooped the arrow off the ground and ran back to the older woman, smiling as she held up the arrow.

"Found it!"

"Aye, so ye did. Let's go see to that burn now."

"Alright." Kagome trailed after the priestess, listening as she told her about the different types of plants found around the forest and their medicinal properties. She glanced back to their practice area, searching one last time for whatever it was she saw, but still found nothing. She gave a mental shrug and put it out of her mind.

A pair of bright, inquisitive eyes watched curiously from the trees as she exited the forest.

* * *

The time passed swiftly for Kagome, who found herself faced with so many different things at once, she was afraid her head would explode. Soon it was late afternoon on the second day. She couldn't really be certain, but she thought it was probably close to four o'clock. They had just returned from a house call to a child who had fallen from a tree and broken his arm. Considering the lack of modern medicine and plaster for casts, Kagome thought Kaede had done a very good job at fixing the boy up. _''I'll have to remember to bring some of the medicine from my time to show her. It wouldn't hurt to bring some band-aids and gauze as well.'_ Kagome was mentally listing off all the things she should bring next time when Kaede suddenly come to a stop. 

Looking up with a curious expression Kagome asked, "What's wrong?"

Kaede was looking off to her left towards the forest. "I feel the presence of a demon."

Kagome spun around to face the same direction as the priestess. "A demon! Where?" Now that she was on guard, she could actually feel something herself. A creeping chill that edged up her spine. It raised the little hairs on the back of her neck and made her shiver. Kaede noticed this and nodded her head at Kagome.

"Do ye feel it as well then?"

"I... I think so. It feels weird."

"Aye. What ye are feeling is the demonic aura of whatever is out there. It is not close or it would be stronger. Though it is too close now for my liking." The old woman turned to face Kagome. "I will go investigate this demon with some of the village men. Ye should stay here."

"But-"

"Nay child." Kaede shook her head decisively. "Ye do not know enough to be of any help."

'_Harsh, but true...'_

"Alright. Please be careful Lady Kaede."

The old priestess smiled, the wrinkles in her face deepening with the gesture. For some reason, Kagome found it oddly comforting to see. "Do not worry Kagome. I am well practiced in getting rid of demons." With that, Kaede hurried away to gather together her group.

Kagome stood in the same spot for a minute, looking around and wondering what she was supposed to do. She fingered the bow that was slung over her shoulder. Kaede had told her to keep it with her, because even though she wasn't very good with it yet, it might save her life. It would also be a deterrent to the more cowardly thieves around here, who wouldn't want to attack an armed person, female or not.

'_Well, no use just standing around looking stupid.'_ Still unsure of what she should do, Kagome picked a direction and began walking. As she wandered about she couldn't help but notice a feeling that she was being watched. As she glanced around from the corner of her eyes, she could see people smiling at her, while others would point at her while talking to others and make excited gestures with their hands.

'_Weird...'_

Turning around the side of a house, she accidentally bumped into a young woman and her child. "Oh excuse me. I'm sorry; I wasn't watching where I was going."

The woman smiled brightly and shook her head. "Oh please don't worry, Lady Kagome. No harm done." She gave a polite bow and continued walking.

'_Eh...Lady?'_

Deciding to go back to Kaede's hut, if only to get away from the polite stares, Kagome made her way back across the village. Once she reached the hut, she began to build a small fire as she had been shown the night before. It was slow going, but she managed to get a tiny flame started and inwardly congratulated herself while at the same time mentally adding matches and lighters to her growing list of things to bring next time. She was just debating whether or not to start making dinner, or at least trying to make dinner, when a scream broke through the quietness of the hut. Startled, Kagome let her hand slip and caught her fingers in the flames. Quickly snatching her singed fingers back, she blessed her inability to make a decent sized fire. In the same breath she cursed her horrible luck with burns in this era. Kagome hurried to the door, sucking on her hot fingers as she popped her head out to see what the commotion was. When she saw the crowd of people gathered around one collapsed figure, she ran from the door and joined them.

"What's going on?"

Several people turned to her, relief in their eyes. "Lady Kagome is here!"

"Lady Kagome!"

"Lady Kagome, Shuu is hurt!" She assumed Shuu was the person on the ground. The crowd parted to let her through and not sure what else she should do, she went and knelt next to the injured man. She had thought he was unconscious at first, but when she leaned closer to take a better look at the wound on his chest, he opened his eyes and looked into her face, his gaze a bit unfocused. He was probably around his mid thirties, but at the moment, he looked twice as old. His face was pale and sweaty, pinched in a grimace of pain. His eyes were tight and when he spoke, she could tell it took a lot of effort.

"Demon... demon attacked... in the forest... Lady Kaede... tell... Lady Kaede..." He wheezed harshly, trying to breath through the pain.

"It's okay, don't worry. Lady Kaede has already gone out to take care of it." His eyes fell closed at her words. She noticed his face was paling even more as the blood stain on his shirt grew wider, staining almost the entire piece of material a deep shade of red. For the first time she noticed a slight gurgling sound as he labored for breath.

'_That's... that's his lungs...it's punctured his lungs.' _

Even if they were back in her own time, there would have been little chance of him surviving. He would have had to been immediately brought to a hospital. And even then...

But they weren't in her time. And there were no hospitals. But still. Still...

"Someone! Bring me a cloth to stop the bleeding! I need bandages and... And hot water!" What else was there here she could use? She still didn't know enough about herbs to know what would help at a time like this. But still...

"Hurry!"

Several people ran off to get what she asked for and she soon found a large piece of material being pressed into her hands, probably someone's shirt. She quickly folded it and pressed it against the man's wound, crushing it against him in hopes off stemming the seemingly never ending flow of blood.

'_Please...please...'_

The man's breathing was a combination of ragged scratchy intakes and wet gurgling releases of air. It hurt her ears to hear it.

"Just hold on okay?" she whispered to the man beneath her. He opened his eyes again. People were coming back with the bandages and water. There was no helping it; she could see the look in his eyes. That he knew it too. But still...

Kagome removed the cloth from his wound and gently peeled back his shirt, using the water to loosen the fabric when it stuck to his skin. It took a while to get it off completely, mostly because it was in shreds and she could only remove a section at a time, some parts she had to practically remove from inside his skin. When she could finally see what she was dealing with, Kagome closed her eyes and prayed. There was just no helping it.

Still...

Opening her eyes, she grabbed a handful of bandages and soaked them in the water, biting her lip when her already burned fingers hit the hot water. She wiped away the semi-dried blood around the wound and got her first really good look at the gash. She wished she had left the shirt on. Four long gouges ripped across his chest from shoulder to shoulder, cutting deep into his flesh and bone. So deep that Kagome could see the twitching of muscle and the movement of something else underneath all the mangled flesh and splintered bone. She didn't want to know what that something else was, but she had a sinking suspicion that the rhythmic movement of it would soon cease.

'_Oh God, I'm going to be sick!'_ But she bit her lip harder to distract herself, not even noticing when her teeth tore right through the soft skin. She continued to clean the wound as best she could, though it was difficult when the blood still seeped steadily from his body. Over her hands, onto her clothes, under her legs. How was it possibly to contain so much of it in a single body?

She was sweating profusely now and her burn from yesterday was burning like fire across her forearm. She welcomed the distraction however and focused on the sensation instead of what was in front of her. Her mind's only thought was not to be sick, not now, not here.

She worked until she couldn't do anymore for him. She blindly reached for more bandages, perhaps in hope of trying to stop the bleeding again, but her hand found empty air. She looked to the ground and saw all the bandages, as well as the cloth she had used before were completely soaked through with blood. Unsure of what to do, she looked back at the man, Shuu. She was surprised to find him looking back at her. His eyes were no longer troubled by his pain and for that she was grateful. So he couldn't feel it anymore...

So after all, it really _couldn't _be helped.

She stared back into his calm eyes and realized he _could _still feel. He just knew there was nothing either of them could do about it. Tears filled her eyes finally.

Still...

She grasped his hand in her own and squeezed, telling him with her eyes that she was sorry, unable to get the words past her throat.

"Thank you... Lady..." Her eyes widened in surprise. "Thank... you..."

He closed his eyes once more, took three more shallow, shuddering breaths and lay still. And eventually...

Eventually...

That 'something' beneath his torn chest stopped moving too.

Kagome wasn't sure how long she stayed kneeling by the man's side, head bowed, praying for his soul. But when someone finally laid a hand on her shoulder and she looked up, squinting in the light to see who it was, she saw it was already nearly sunset. She looked back to the ground and was shocked to find that the body of the man had been removed already. When had that happened? Turning back to the person next to her she felt something slip from her shoulder. Startled, she grabbed it and found a homemade shawl draped over her back and shoulders. When...

"Kagome..."

She looked up again, squinting futility to see who was there. The person knelt down in front of her so she wouldn't have to crane her neck.

Ah, Lady Kaede.

"Oh! Lady Kaede! When did you get back?" Normal enough words. She was glad her voice only shook slightly as she spoke.

Kaede smile gently as the girl in front of her. She was a horrid sight. Covered in blood, eyes wide and frightened. She reached out and grasped the girl's elbow, lifting her to her feet as she stood. "Come with me child. We should get ye cleaned up."

Kagome followed silently behind the older priestess, glad to be able to get the feel of dried blood off of her. Strange how she hadn't noticed it fully until now. She held her arms out in front of her. The blood had dried to a sort of gummy constancy in some areas, while other spots were beginning to flake off as she moved. It didn't seem real somehow, but as she peeled off some of the thicker layers and it pulled painfully at the little hairs at her arms, she decided it definitely felt real. She felt slightly fuzzy headed, but figured that was probably normal after witnessing a man die beneath her.

Kaede had led them to a river and she noticed with some surprise that her backpack was already waiting there for her, along with a large cloth that she assumed was a towel. How long _had_ Kaede been back?

Kagome stopped beside the bank and turned to face the old woman. She was about to ask her again, but she was beat to it.

"I have been back for almost an hour. Ye had already been kneeling on the ground for two when I found ye. The villagers did not wish to disturb ye." When Kagome heard this she lowered her head, ashamed.

Kaede laid he hand on her shoulder once more and Kagome raised her head to meet her gaze. She was surprised at the warmth she found there. Why? Surely the villagers had told her how completely useless she had been. Wouldn't that be the reason they didn't want to move her? They were mad she hadn't done anything.

"Do not blame yourself Kagome. They people who saw what ye did told me just how kindly and brave ye were."

'_Brave?'_

"Ye did not have to try to help that man that ye did not know. All that I spoke to said the same. Shuu would surely have died anyways."

Kagome clenched her jaw tightly. So it _had _been completely useless to try and save him.

"But ye would not leave him to die. It is the priestess in ye Kagome. That part of ye that cannot help but aid others, no matter how hopeless the situation may seem. The villages saw that in ye. And they respect ye greatly for it. They did not leave ye out of spite Kagome, but out of admiration. If ye would wish to pray for his soul until the night fell, they would let ye." She tugged on the shawl that Kagome was now tightly gripping. "But they would not let ye harm yourself or become sick because of it."

Kagome gave a tiny smile and turned to the water. "Did you kill the demon?" Her voice came out soft, but clear. No waver in it this time.

"Aye, it was slain."

"Good."

"Clean yourself child. I wish to return ye home before dark."

"Alright."

* * *

There was only so much cleaning you could do in a cold river with a travel size bar of soap. She needed a long soak in her bathtub and a scrub brush to get the blood from under her finger nails. And the more she thought about it, the more she wanted it gone _now_. Her head still had that strange fuzzy feeling in it, as if there was something she should be feeling, but couldn't quite figure out what it was. As she followed Kaede back to the well, the sun was making its grand exit behind the trees and everything around her was in a wash of gold, orange and red. She shuddered a little when she saw the red. She could still see it spreading across the man's chest. She hoped to never see something like that again. 

They finally reached the well and Kagome turned to say her goodbye's to the old woman.

"Will ye be returning?"

Kagome's farewell died on her lips. "Wha... Of course." She looked at the priestess strangely. "I told you that remember?"

Kaede smiled. "Aye. I have not completely lost my wits yet. I just was unsure if ye planned on returning after today."

Kagome raised her chin, a steely set to her jaw. "I'll come back for as long as it takes."

'_I can do this at least. Him... I can still save.'_

"I will see ye in two day time then. Farewell Kagome."

"Goodbye Lady Kaede. I'll see you soon." With a final wave. Kagome sat herself on the edge of the well and pushed off, letting the darkness swallow her and bring her home.

* * *

Inuyasha paced back and forth across the dirt floor of the well house, grumbling to himself. 

"It's been two day." _'Well, almost.'_ "Where the hell is she?"

It had, without a doubt, been the longest, most boring two days in his entire existence. He desperately missed Kagome, not that he would ever admit it, and had barely left the small shelter during the entire time she was gone. Every time he would leave, he would be gone no more than thirty minutes before wondering if maybe she would come home early and racing back to see if she had. Which of course she hadn't. So he would pace the tiny room again until getting bored enough to leave again, only to return within the half hour.

So it had been a long, boring two days.

He was considering trying to jump down the well again to see if anything would happen. Though the first fifty times hadn't really shown any promise. Suddenly he saw the blue glow from the well that signaled it was in use and his heart lifted happily.

"About damn time!" He jumped up to the ledge of the well and waited for the glow to fade. As the blue light left his nose was suddenly assaulted with the stench of blood. Panicking he leapt down the well and landed next to Kagome with a thump. Startled, she gasped and spun around.

He grabbed her shoulders and held her at arms length looking her over carefully. He smelled a lot of blood, but so far none of it was hers. Then whose was it? He looked into her eyes finally and froze, stunned.

He usual warm and sparkling eyes, ones that he had come to look forward to seeing every day, were replaced by something... wrong. He saw confusion there, probably from him, and sadness. But there was something there he had hoped to never see in her eyes. A haunted look that said she had seen death. And it had been bad.

"Kagome..." He saw her tilt her head like she usually did, but no smile for him came with it.

'_Dammit! Dammit! Why her? I should have been there... I'm so sorry Kagome.'_

He knew she was waiting for him to do something, but all he could do was stand there like an idiot and stare at her. Finally she was the one to break the silence.

"I'm... glad you're still here."

He released her abruptly. "Yeah well, I didn't really have anywhere to be."

She gave him a small smile, no where near her usual brightness, but a start. "You didn't have any problem then?"

"Yeah right. Like there was anything I couldn't have handled anyways. But what about you? You reek of blood." He felt like smacking himself as soon as he said it, but it was too late to take it back and as her face fell and she swallowed heavily, he could only mentally call himself an idiot over and over.

"I..." She took a step back and bumped against the wall of the well. He suddenly realized it was almost completely dark out. He glanced up to the top of the well and decided they should probably go inside. A salty smell tickled his nose and he whipped his head back down to see Kagome hastily wiping away tears. It was no use though, they just kept coming. Finally she stopped trying and just covered her face with her hands.

"Kagome..." He stepped closer to her and hovered hesitantly for a moment. A soft, heart-wrenching sob came from her and he suddenly couldn't take it anymore. Wrapping his arms around her small form, he pulled her close, squeezing her tightly. He held her to his chest, letting her cry, saying nothing. Just being there. He ran one hand through her hair, letting his fingers comfort her, saying with each soft lift of hair what his voice could not. 'It's okay.' 'I'm here for you.' 'You're safe.'

Eventually she wrapped her arms around him and held him back, her tears subsiding gradually. After a while it was just the sound of the wind and crickets that echoed through the well. Still he didn't let go. And still his fingers smoothed through her hair, calming her, soothing her.

Of all things, it was the grumbling of Kagome's stomach that finally pulled them apart.

"Heh, I guess we should get home."

"Yeah. Kagome..."

"Yeah?"

He paused, unsure if he wanted to bring it up again, afraid of how she might react. "Do you want to talk about it?"

To his relief, she only gave him a small shake of her head. "Not right now, okay?"

"Okay."

She looked up to the top of the well and then back to him, smiling sweetly. "How about a lift?"

He rolled his eyes and held out his arms. "What do I look like? Your own personal elevator?"

She grinned as she stepped into his arms and held him around the waist. "As a matter of fact, you do." He muttered under his breath as he easily leapt them clear of the well in one bound, depositing her carefully on the floor.

"Whatever. Don't get used to this."

"Of course not." She flashed him another smile as she walked up the stairs, pausing at the door for him to catch up to her. She slid open the door and sighed happily at the sight of her beloved shrine spread out before her. Same as always. It may have only been two days, but Kagome suddenly felt as if she had been gone for a year. Quickly shutting the door, she dashed out onto the yard and headed towards her house, wanting to feel her family's reassuring presence around her. Her heart ached in remembrance of the last few hours and she longed to have the normalcy of her home surrounding her once again.

She reached her front door, panting slightly, and was surprised when Inuyasha caught her hand and turned her around. She tugged back, slightly annoyed at having been stopped. She glared up at him, ready to ask what his problem was. She stopped herself when she saw he wasn't trying to make her mad on purpose. In fact, he looked down right concerned.

"What's wrong?" She was acutely aware that he hadn't let go of her hand yet and inwardly hoped he would continue to hold it a little bit longer. Unfortunately the fates were not with her at the moment and he released her a second later when he was sure he had her attention.

"You should wait a minute before going in."

"What? Why?" she demanded. She wanted to see her family _now_.

"You're a mess," he pointed out bluntly.

Oh. Well, duh.

"They don't care what I look like." She was a little offended that he thought her family would care if she was messy looking or not. They weren't shallow people after all.

"You're eyes are all puffy from crying. I think they _will_ care if you were upset."

He had a point there.

"Yeah, I guess. But I don't want to wait out here all night for my eyes to get unpuffy."

He seemed to think about that for a second. "Alright hold on." He walked through the door and glanced around to see if anyone was coming. He could smell the mother in the kitchen. Mmm, she was making one of Kagome's favorites too. That would make her happy. The grandfather was in the living room, watching the news from the sound of it. And the kid was no where to be found. That puzzled him for a minute until he remembered hearing snatches of conversation from inside the well house. That's right; the boy was spending the night at a friend's house. He walked back out to Kagome, who was staring up at the sky, watching the stars. She turned her attention to him when he returned.

"The hallway is clear, so you can go up to your room for now."

Her lips twitched as if she wanted to argue, but knew better. "Alright."

She slid open the door with great care, softly removing her shoes before tiptoeing to the stairs. Halfway up, she began to feel as though she were sneaking in after being out too late and felt a hint of guilt creep up on her. She stopped.

Inuyasha gave her a confused look as she began to head back down the steps. "What are you doing?"

Kagome gave him an apologetic look as she reached the foot of the stairs. "I have to at least let her know I'm home."

She took a deep breath and shouted in the direction of the kitchen. "Mom, I'm home! I'll be upstairs taking a bath if you need me!" She quickly turned around and jogged back up the steps.

Her mother poked her head around a corner, smiling at her daughter's retreating back. "Welcome home sweetie. Dinner will be ready in a little bit, but take your time. Souta is staying at a friend's tonight, so it's just you, me and your grandfather."

Kagome turned her head slightly and grinned brightly before turning back around. "Okay mom." Retreating to her room, she dropped her back pack on floor with a thump and gave a sigh of relief. Eagar to get the lingering feel of dried blood off of her finally, she spun around and headed for the door again.

And ran into a warm body.

"Oof." Hands reached up to steady her and she found herself looking into Inuyasha's eyes once again. This time the golden depths held amusement.

"Watch where you're going would ya."

She glared half jokingly back at him and poked a finger at his chest. "You're the dummy who's standing right behind me."

"That's because you're blocking the whole room just standing next to the door like an idiot."

"Who's the one who can walk through things here? Wasn't that you?"

"I would have if I had known you were just going to stand here all day."

Kagome opened her mouth to shoot another comeback at him and stopped suddenly. She gave him instead a soft smile. "Thank you."

Confused by her complete shift in mood, Inuyasha could only stare blankly at her for a moment. "Uh... for what?"

She shrugged and reached around him for the door handle. "For just being you." She opened the door and walked to the bathroom, giggling softly as she glanced back at the stunned looking hanyou. He was still standing in her doorway with his mouth hanging open, as the door closed behind her. She fully ready for a nice long soak. While the water filled the tub, sending a pleasant waft of steam into the air, she stood in front of the sink and scrubbed at her nail with a hand brush, trying desperately to remove the now dark-rust colored substance from her fingers. The rough bristles scraped harshly against the sensitive burns on her fingertips, but she ignored them. The tub was almost full by the time she considered her nails clean enough for her peace of mind. Shutting off the water, she slipped from her clothes and placed them in the hamper, glad that she had left her other blood soaked ones back with Kaede. She couldn't imagine having to explain them to her mother.

Sighing deeply as her thoughts wandered yet again to the gruesome events of that afternoon, she closed her eyes. How long would it be before she stopped seeing that man die? How long before the image of his torn body faded from the mind? She didn't think it would be anytime soon. She wasn't sure if she wanted to tell Inuyasha at all what had happened. Unfortunately she knew he wouldn't leave her alone until he found out what was bothering her. He was very persistent like that. A gentle smile found its way to her lips as she recalled how he had held her in the well as she cried. At the time, she had been incredibly surprised at his show of gentleness. Though in her heart, she supposed she wasn't really surprised at all. Hadn't he held her like that once before after all? When she had woken from a dream and thought him dead.

Sighing again, this time in happy remembrance, she let her thoughts float around a certain silver haired half-demon. It was a good alternative to the other things lurking in her mind. As she leaned back in the tub, soaking in the heat of the water, she played back the feeling of his arms around her. She let herself recall how strong and warm his body been against hers and how safe she had felt listening to the thump, thump of his heart. She imagined him stroking her hair again like he had earlier and felt a pleasant shiver go through her. She loved it when people played with her hair; it always felt so nice. Somehow she got the feeling if Inuyasha were to play with her hair it would feel very, very nice. Suddenly the tub seemed a little too hot for her and she quickly finished washing herself, scrubbing her hair and body thoroughly to rid herself of any lingering traces of blood. Hadn't Inuyasha said she reeked of it? She soaped herself up one more time, just to be sure. The burn on her forearm burned hotly at being dunked in the water, but she ignored it, reminding herself to put some burn cream on it later. When she was finally satisfied that she couldn't possible smell like anything other than soap and berry shampoo she got out and drained the tub. Kagome wrapped herself in a towel and wrapped another around her hair. She had forgotten to bring clothes, but that was okay. It wasn't that she didn't trust Inuyasha, but now that she could see him and know where he was, she didn't feel as shy changing in her room anymore.

Now, it was time to go downstairs and sit with her family.

* * *

Kagome's spirit's lifted considerably as she sat at the dinner table and chatted with her mother and grandfather. She wished Souta had been home too, but knew she would see him the next day and decided to give him a great big hug as soon as he came home. It would surely confuse and embarrass the boy and she was looking forward to it. Inuyasha stood leaning against the far wall, in his usual spot, eyes closed, ears twitching occasionally as they spoke. She noticed they most often turned to her when she spoke and felt a great affection that he paid such close attention to her. Not for the first time she found herself troubled by his lonely appearance. She wished she could include him in their conversation and that he could join them at the table. She knew her family would accept him as her friend and treat him as family. Her mother already did. She had to break that stupid curse! 

After dinner she helped her mother with the dishes, drying and putting them away, for once glad to just spend time with her. Afterwards they sat in the living room together and watched the television. A completely normal night that made her inexplicably happy. Sitting on the floor, she glanced up at Inuyasha and found him looking at her. Wanting to include him, even if no one but he knew he was there, she patted the ground next to her and jerked her head to the side indicating he should sit next to her. Inuyasha rolled his eyes, but pushed himself off of the wall anyways, and settled down close to her. Kagome smiled and leaned into him slightly, letting her arm rest against his. Glancing over to the other two, Kagome found her mother smiling at her and knew she had seen her gestures. Mrs. Higurashi gave her a happy wink and went back to watching T.V. Kagome smiled again; glad she wasn't really the only one who knew he was there.

* * *

It was everywhere she looked. Everywhere she ran. Red. Red. Blood red. On the ground. On her hands. On the trees she ran past. Everywhere. Red. Blood red. 

She ran and ran, but couldn't escape the harsh metallic smell or the feel of it slick on her hands and legs. It was night out and she could barely see where she was going, but eventually she stumbled onto a rocky clearing. She had found herself at a river back and relief washed over her. She lunged recklessly into the water, wading out until her waist was covered. Desperately she thrust her hands beneath the gently flowing current and scrubbed viciously at her hands. Only when she raised them again to see if they were clean did she realize something was wrong. All the way up to her elbows, her arms were now dripping with warm, fresh blood.

"No..." It was only a whisper, but her whole heart was behind the denial. She looked down and saw that waves beneath her were slowly soaking her clothes a deep red.

"No..."

Why hadn't she noticed the smell until now? It clung to the back of her throat, making her gag with its thick coppery tang.

"Lady Kagome."

Kagome jerked her head up at her name and gasped in shock, stumbling back a step into the river. The current had picked up and now it tugged at her legs, trying to make her fall with its force.

"Lady Kagome..." The man Shuu, was stumbling towards her, his lags splashing in the 'water' as he closed in on her.

"No." She backed up again, the red waves splashing just below her ribs now.

"Lady..." Shuu was reaching out to her in a parody of every cheesy horror flick she had ever seen. For some reason that didn't make it any less frightening. One hand stretched towards her as he stumbled on through the water, while the other pressed against his chest, blood leaking through his fingers, dripping down into the river to add to its collection.

"No." Her heart pounded painfully in her chest and she wanted to run. Run away from this man who she had seen die in her arms while she could do nothing to save him.

"Don't... let me die... Lady..." He was getting closer now.

Her mind screamed at her to run, but she couldn't bring herself to move past him and she didn't want to wade in any deeper into the horrible river. Still he came and she found herself backing up again. The redness was licking below her chest now.

"Please... help... help me..."

Kagome shook her head rapidly, willing him to stop moving, to leave. "I... I can't! I can't help you! You're already dead!"

"Lady..." Finally the man was close enough to grab her arm. Kagome panicked and hit his arm away, surprised when it fell away easily and he stopped his advances.

"You... let me... die..." And with that the man fell backwards and was carried away with the current. Kagome stared after him, her heart still leaping in her chest.

"I didn't mean to..."

The current was still intensifying and she suddenly found herself fighting to stand. Terrified of the thought of being tossed underneath the bloody waves, she struggled to go back to shore. But it was dark and she suddenly couldn't see where the shore was. It should be right ahead of her, but as she walked the water only got higher and higher until she was swimming to keep her head up.

'_What's going on?'_

She swam back in the other direction, but couldn't find the ground anymore. She was lost in a river of blood. She was going to drown! Desperation kept her moving, even as the waves grew higher and the current tugged mercilessly at her.

No. She would die like this.

"You let me die..."

'_No...'_

"You let me die."

'_No.'_

"You let me die!"

"No!"

Suddenly her strength gave out and she could no longer fight the pull of the current. She struggled weakly as it grabbed her and dragged her under the surface, pulling her into a world of swirling red waves.

* * *

She struggled, pulling back weakly against his hands. 

"Kagome, dammit! Wake up!"

Finally her eyes opened and focused on him. _'Thank goodness.'_

She blinked at him a few times, as if confused by who he was for a moment.

"Inuyasha?"

He sighed and let go of her arms. He swept one hand over her forehead, brushing the damp locks from her face. "You were having a nightmare."

Her eyes clouded over as she remembered everything in a rush. She buried her face in her hands with a strangled sob. It had been a dream. A dream. Then why was she still so afraid? Why did she still here the man's voice echoing in her ears as if he had really spoken those words to her.

"_You let me die."_

He had never said that to her. Why did she still feel like they were true?

Warm arms wrapped around her for the second time that day and she found herself surrounded by the comforting scent of warm fur and rain soaked earth. The smell of Inuyasha.

"I'm sorry."

Huh?

She leaned back in his arms and looked into his eyes. It was difficult to see him the dark, but she was pretty sure she could see regret lurking beneath the surface. What did he have to be sorry for? She shook hear head to tell him she didn't understand.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you."

"But there's no way you could have been there." She laid her head against his chest, glad for his company at this moment, but not understanding how he could feel bad for something he couldn't control.

"Tell me what happened. Kagome."

Her hands clenched involuntarily at his request. But... She owed him this at least. She took a steadying breath.

"I... I saw a man die today." Slowly, she went over the afternoon's events, telling him only the bare facts, finally ending with the arrival of Lady Kaede. The whole time she had spoken, her head had remained down, resting against his chest. It had given her strength, but now she lifted her head to see his reaction. Surely he wouldn't be _too_ disappointed in her.

Anger. Lots and lots of anger.

She pulled back from his arms and he let her, standing up suddenly to pace beside her bed.

Lots and lots of anger.

But she didn't feel as though he was angry at her. Which confused her, because surely he couldn't be angry at the man for dying, could he?

He stopped abruptly next to her bed and dropped to his knees. Grabbing her hands in his own he caught her eyes and did something so completely out of the ordinary; she could only gape in surprise.

He begged.

"Please, Kagome. Please don't go back."

"But..."

"Please, I beg you. Stay here. You...you'd be safe here." He dropped his head, hands tightening on hers until it was almost painful. "I can protect you here!"

"But it wasn't me who got hurt..."

He snarled suddenly, making her jump, and released her hand, leaping up to pace the room once more. He whirled on her a minute later, jabbing a finger in the air at her. "It _could_ have been you! Why can't you get that through your thick head? Next time it could be you laying on the ground bleeding to death! And there's nothing I can do about it!" He stopped then, clenching his jaw and breathing hard. She could tell he wanted to say more, but was trying to restrain himself.

Several tears slipped down Kagome's cheeks and she brushed them away harshly. "I'm sorry too."

Inuyasha looked hopefully to her for a second, probably thinking she was apologizing for having gone the first time. She clarified. "I'm sorry for having to make you worry when I leave. But... it can't be helped." She remembered having thought that earlier in the day also. "It can't be helped. There's nothing you can do about it. It's something out of your control. You... you can't beat yourself up over something that isn't in you hands, something that you have no power to stop." Her throat was becoming tight and words were squeezed out painfully. "Some things are just meant to be. It's a mistake to linger on things that can't be helped. If there's nothing you can do, then there's nothing you can do. And no amount of fighting is going to let you overcome it. No matter how much you want to help... no matter how much... you want them to live. There are just some things... that can't be helped."

Inuyasha watched the young woman in front of him as she spoke these words and knew she wasn't just speaking to him. In fact, he wasn't really sure if she had been speaking to him at all past the first few words. It didn't matter though. She was right either way. He couldn't beat himself up over not having been there for her. She had covered her face with her hands again; a gesture he knew to mean she was hurting deeply inside. Forgetting his anger at himself for a moment he went back to her bed and sat on the edge. He touched her shoulder, wanting her to look up. Her eyes were dry, but swollen and red. He could see many things in the dark depths, many of which caused his heart to clench painfully in his chest. She shouldn't look like this. She shouldn't look so lost and lonely. Not his Kagome. It just wasn't right.

"I... I didn't let him die... right?" It was the tiniest of whispers, but his sharp ears picked it up without trouble and it shocked him to the core that she would even think such a terrible thing. Was she crazy? What in the world would make her think something like that?

"Of course not. Who the hell would tell you something like that?" he demanded furiously. He would kill them. Who ever had said that, he would kill them. Nice and slow.

"The dead man."

Well, guess his job was already done then.

"But he didn't really. It was a dream... It was just a dream." She sighed and closed her eyes.

He couldn't take it anymore. He hated seeing her depressed and in pain, it was too much for his heart to take. Grabbing her arms, he lifted her from under her covers and settled her in his lap, legs dangling to one side. Her surprised face was a preferable change to her earlier anguish. He gripped her face in his hands, careful to keep his claws stretched away from her.

"I don't ever want to hear you say something so completely idiotic again, do you understand me?" She managed a tiny nod, her eyes wide.

"It was not your fault, alright?" Another nod.

"What you did was all anybody could have done, more really, because I know for a fact that no one else would have helped him like you did. People are selfish and self concerned. Especially the people from that time."

Kagome shook her head a little. "No they're not. You wrong. Not all people are like that." She thought back to the shawl, laid across her shoulders by some unknown person. She resolved to find that person and thank them.

"Think what you want." He tightened his grip on her face, forcing her full attention to him. "But keep yourself safe. Let that old woman teach you archery and tell her to teach you to use your powers as a priestess, and don't let her say no. She obviously sees them in you or she wouldn't be teaching you in the first place. Learn them, they'll save your life where I can't." He stared into her eyes waiting for her to speak.

"O...okay, I'll ask."

"Don't ask! _Tell _her to teach you. Promise me."

Kagome's lips twitched. "I promise."

"Good."

"To ask."

Feisty wench. He growled at her teasing smile. "You always have to make things difficult don't you?"

"You always have to demand unreasonable things don't you?"

"Damn straight."

"Well then I guess the same goes for me."

"Feh." He finally released her face; sure that he had at least made his point. Her hands caught one of his before it dropped away and pressed it against her face once more. He blinked in surprise.

"Thank you Inuyasha." A tender smile grace her mouth and his heart pounded as she closed her eyes and rubbed her cheek against the roughness of his palm. He felt the heat rise in his cheeks. He cleared his throat and managed to squeeze out two words.

"Your welcome."

She opened her eyes and let go of his hand, but for some reason it didn't want to leave the softness of her skin. He found himself tracing the edges of her jaw with his fingertips, being careful to keep his claws out of the way. Her eyes softened and he could feel the skin beneath his fingers warm with her own blush. His fingers trailed over her chin and to her lips. He traced the outline of her mouth and gently brushed his thumb over the delicate skin. He could hear her heart thudding rapidly in her chest and smiled, knowing his slight touch had caused it. He tore his gaze from her mouth and looked into her eyes, searching their darkness for any sign that he shouldn't be touching her so freely. He only saw a soft amazement there, backed by traces of heat and a little uncertainty. But the thing that made him catch his breath was the faint glimmer of happiness he saw coming to the surface. He had made her happy. His heart swelled when he realized she no longer held sadness or that horrible haunted look in her eyes anymore.

He had made her happy.

He was startled out of his thoughts by the feel of her hand against his own cheek. What? He looked at her in surprise. She gulped nervously and licked her lips. What was she nervous about? Suddenly she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his.

It was sudden and a little awkward, since she couldn't really see that well and had almost missed his mouth completely, and it only last for a second, but when she pulled away and looked at him with an uncertain expression, as if wondering if that had been all right, he felt his heart melt a little. He had been frozen in surprise when she kissed him, but now blood raced through his body in a rush of energy. Kagome looked ready to apologize by this point and he quickly grabbed her around the waist and pressed her against him, dipping his face to hers as his other hand came to cup her cheek once more. He pressed his lips to hers gently, not wanting to hurry his second kiss with her. Her breath puffed lightly against his mouth and he felt her press her lips more firmly to his, causing a small thrill to go through him. Her hands came to rest against his shoulders, her fingers splaying across them lightly before finding their way to his hair and gently tugging it to bring him closer.

He deepened the kiss, parting his lips and taking her bottom lip between his, nibbling until she sighed softly, parting her own lips in response. He tilted his head and took advantage of the opportunity to lick the inside of her lips with a quick dart of his tongue. Her fingers clenched in his hair, telling him without words that she hadn't expected that. He repeated the action and her lips parted even more to allow him entry. His hand on her back pulled her as close to his body as she would go, but still he wished he could be closer. His thumb drew tiny circles on her cheek as he tentatively explored her mouth. She tasted like Heaven.

And toothpaste.

But that was fine with him. Her breath was coming rapidly and he pulled back to allow her some air and to look at her face once more. Her eyes remained closed and her lips were still parted as she took in deep breaths of air. Even in the dark he could tell her cheeks were flushed and he felt a tingle of pride at having been the one to put it there. When she realized he wasn't coming back, Kagome opened her eyes and looked at him in confusion.

He couldn't help but give a small chuckle at her expression. As much as he would have liked kissing her all night, and he could see she probably wouldn't have minded either, he looked at the clock and saw it was way too late for her to be up. So, it was with some reluctance that he stood up with her in his arms and laid her gently back in bed. The confused expression didn't leave her face as he pulled the covers over her and sat down on the edge of the mattress facing her.

"It's late and you need to go to sleep."

She blinked owlishly at him and finally glanced at the clock herself, doing a double take when she saw how late it really was. "I guess you're right." She smiled shyly at him and took one of his hands in her own. "Thank you." Her blush spread itself charmingly across her entire face and began to creep down her neck.

"You already said that."

She wound his fingers through his and he stared at the joined hands that lay between them.

"I know, but I still mean it."

Inuyasha felt his own cheeks heating up again and silently wondered what it was about this girl that made him blush like a little school girl.

"Feh. Just go to sleep now. I don't want to deal with you being all cranky tomorrow because you didn't get any sleep."

Giving a wide yawn, Kagome settle back into her pillow and closed her eyes, certain she would be having sweet dreams for the rest of the night. "Yes sir."

She felt him move against the bed and second later his lips brushed lightly against her forehead.

"Good night Kagome."

She smiled contentedly. "Good night Inuyasha."

Her last thought before drifting of to sleep was happily realizing that he still had his hand entwined with hers.

* * *

AN- I dedicate this chapter to all the fluff mongers out there. Congratulations. You finally made me break down and write it. I hope it wasn't too bad. :-)

And I'll give more fluff if anyone guesses who the flash of blue was earlier in the chapter.

Q and A

Q.** sakurablossomskxk**- Will Kouga's wolf tribe (and Kouga) be included in this? Or Sango and Miroku?

A. All shall be revealed in time. In other words, yes. They will all be thrown in to my world of chaos- er I mean this story.

Q. **kikironie**- How come Inuyasha will still be able to remember Kagome after she lifted the curse? If there's no curse it would mean that none of the guardianship thingy has ever happened right?

A. Wrong! He he. No really, I have my reasons. In a nutshell, the curse will be broken, but it will still have happened, so his memories will be intact. For a more detailed (and probably more complicated) answer, go back to chapter 20 and scan through the Q and Q until you get to LukeShaehl. It should answer your question. Key word being: _should_.

Q. **karen**- What do you think will be the title for the "supposed" sequel?

A. I'll have to wait until I get o the end of this one to know for sure, but my head seems stuck on Savior. Hmm, I hope that doesn't give away too much.

Q. **SoranoDarkHorse**- Will Inuyasha ever get a chance to kiss Kagome? Please? Please, Please, Please, Please, Please? More fluff might I add? When can she touch his ears? Can Kagome see him only when he's by the God Tree or by the well? More fluffiness? Please?

A. Yeesh, it's people like you... that make me cave like a wet paper bag. Yes! Fluff for you! The ears are still in negotiations... And now she can see him all the time! But you figured that out by now.

Q. **Inuyashafreke**- Will Kagome and Inuyasha get a make-out session?

A. Yes, yes they will. :-)

Q. **InU-DragoN-GirL**- Can you put a bunch load of fluff in the next chapter?

A. Yes, yes I can. Your persistence had paid off.

Q. **SliverStarWing**- . When Kagome releases him from his curse, will he remember everything that's happened? Or will it start all over as in the anime with him trying to kill her for the jewel? If Inu has to sleep, doesn't that mean he has to eat too?

A. He will remember it all, I'm stubbornly sticking to this, so no, he won't try to kill her when he wakes up. He doesn't need to eat yet, so fortunately I haven't been starving him. LoL.

Q. **PippetJimmy**- The Shikon no Tama _is_ going to be included in your story, right? And, will Kagome shatter the jewel like she did in the series? And, just who was the owner of that creepy voice from behind or within the well? Since Kikyo will be a part of this story, is there going to be a love triangle between her Kagome and Inuyasha? Is Kouga going to be in this story too? Can I Laugh When She Gets Hit By The Bus?

A. So much for keeping it short. :-) Don't worry about constant questions, I like them! Yes, the Shikon is going to be making an appearance. It will be shattered, though the circumstances will be different. As for the owner of the creepy voice... I'll give you something special if you can guess it on your own. Kikyo will definitely complicate things a bit, but it won't be the same as in the series. My way of thinking is that Inuyasha has had Kagome to himself all this time (it will still be a while til the curse breaks), so he will be more attached to her than in the original series. Kouga shall be in here, making trouble, causing headaches, yelling profanities and all that good stuff. And it's never good to laugh when someone gets hit by a bus. At least not in public.


	22. Qualms

Disclaimer- I mourn the loss of that which I never had...

AN- Sorry for the lateness. I am not worthy... Thank you for all the encouraging (and sometimes threatening...) reviews. To all of you who guessed Shippou as the little blue bugger the last chapter, congratulations! I see I'll have to make it harder next time. You're fluff awaits you...uh...somewhere down there. You might have to search a little for it. :-) He he.

Qualms

Stupid.

Stupid.

Stupid.

What the _hell_ had he been thinking?

Stupid.

Idiot.

Moron.

What could have gotten into him to make him act so rash?

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

She had been upset.

Fine. Give her a hug.

She had a nightmare.

Fine. Hold her and calm her down.

She had cried.

Fine. Wipe away her tears.

She had kissed him.

No, you dumbass! Don't kiss her back!

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Inuyasha stopped his frenzied pacing around the room long enough to stare accusingly back to the bed where Kagome laid sleeping. It was all her fault. With her soft skin and alluring scent. Flashing those big brown eyes at him. Touching him, smiling at him, being near him.

Damn her!

Things had never been this confusing around any of the others. Granted they could neither see nor hear him at the time, but that was beside the point. Inuyasha frowned and tilted his head back, staring at the ceiling as he tried to remember what exactly his point _had_ been. Oh, yeah. It was all her fault. He glared back at the bed and stalked silently over to the sleeping girl. Squatting, he peered intently into her face, as if searching for an answer in the relaxed line of her features. The only thing he found, however, was the urge to kiss her again. He was, in fact, leaning into her before he caught himself and hastily jerked back, landing with a distinct lack of grace on his butt.

This was _not _helping.

Inuyasha jumped back to his feet and began pacing once more. It was a better distraction than staring at her face and at least this way he wasn't tempted to do... things. Well, not much tempted. Not too much anyways. Maybe just a little.

Aw, who the hell was he kidding?

He stopped next to the door and thumped his head against the wood in frustration. It was no use. Her scent was all around him, tickling his nose with its sweet familiarity and promise of comfort. He could still feel her lips pressed against his and her hesitant fingers on his shoulders and in his hair. He could still taste her on his tongue and feel the heat of her flushed cheeks on his face.

Thump.

Thump, thump.

A rustling sound behind him indicated that while effective, that was probably not the quietest way to purge his distracting thoughts. Resting his forehead against the smoothness of the door frame, Inuyasha closed his eyes and tried to think of how he was going to handle this particular complication. Unfortunately, romantic faux pas were not something he was adept at dealing with. Maybe if he just pretended nothing had happened? But even as he thought of it, the idea was dismissed. He wasn't that much of an ass. Although...

Inuyasha raised his head from the door. He didn't have to ignore the kiss, but maybe it wasn't as big a deal as he was making it out to be. He glanced over to the bed again. Kagome was laying flat on her back now, one arm flung out and hanging half off the mattress. He smiled slightly, remembering how many times he had been whacked upside the head during the night, unbeknownst to the unconscious girl above him. He learned quickly that the best place to sit was at the end of the bed. As long as he was careful of her feet. They kicked less frequently, but a hell of a lot harder.

No, it really wasn't a big deal at all. She had been scared and troubled. He had been there for her. That was all. It was what he was supposed to do right? He was her Guardian and should protect her from any kind of hurt. Even the kind in her own head. She had wanted comfort, so he had given it to her. Simple. His mind found that to be perfectly logical reasoning.

His heart called him a fucking liar.

He told his heart to shut the hell up.

It was better to think that way. If she became too attached to him, it would only make it harder for him to keep her from going down that damn well. If her heart was too deeply involved, she wouldn't be able to think or see things clearly. He knew from experience how well the heart could cloud a person's judgment.

No, this was definitely for the best. Let her think that he only held her out of obligation. Let her think that his kisses were out of pity and that he really didn't feel as deeply for her as he truly did. Let her believe that he wasn't willing and eager to repeat the incident.

And please, please let it hurt her less than it did him.

Inuyasha bowed his head and took a deep breath, clenching his hands tightly into fists. Okay.

He could do this.

Right.

* * *

Kagome woke in the slow, languorous fashion of someone who has absolutely nothing to do and nowhere to be. She opened her eyes in several unhurried blinks, relaxing in the warmth of her blankets as the world around her came into gradual focus. 

Ah, the wonderful familiarity of her bedroom. Hello, desk. Hello, wall calendar. Hello, teddy bear. Hello, incredibly pissed off looking Inuyasha.

Er...

"Morning," Kagome yawned as she sat up and rubbed the remaining sleep from her eyes. She looked again at the silver haired boy leaning against her door. Nope, it wasn't just blurry and sleep-heavy eyes. He definitely looked pissed. Hmm... Had she missed something?

She tried again. "Good morning Inuyasha. Did you sleep okay?"

"No."

Blink.

O...kay. Was it just her, or did someone seem to have woken up on the wrong side of the door frame this morning?

She raised an eyebrow, though the gesture was lost on him since he had yet to look up from the ground. "Bad night?"

Inuyasha finally looked up at her, taking in her puzzled expression. He sighed. "Yeah, something like that." He paused a second and turned his gaze to the window. "How do you feel?"

"Hmm? Oh... Much better, um, thank you." Kagome felt her cheeks heat up slightly as she recalled certain late night activities. "I...I hope I didn't keep you up."

His gaze stayed focused on the window. "No, I was up anyways."

"Oh." Kagome threw back her covers and sat on the edge of the mattress, turning her head to peer out the window and see what was so interesting that Inuyasha couldn't seem to look away from. Nothing was there she could see, unless he had suddenly developed a fascination with yellow-throated Buntings. Hmm, or maybe it was a Goldcrest. Kagome walked over to the window to get a closer look. Actually, now that she could see it a little better she was pretty sure it was a Dusky Thrush. Although, weren't those last two winter birds? She peered at it even more closely, pressing her nose to the glass. Yep, it was definitely a yellow Bunting, she was sure of it.

Oh look, there was another one! That one looked like a Warbler...

Kagome was so engrossed in trying to figure out exactly which kind of Warbler the little guy might be, she didn't notice when Inuyasha came to join her in looking out the window, wondering what had caught her interest.

Finally deciding she just didn't know enough about birds to make a good enough guess at its name, Kagome turned away from the window and found a confused Inuyasha scratching his head as he gazed out in the direction she had just been staring at. She couldn't help but giggle a little at his scrunched up expression as he searched for the object of her attention.

At her laugh, Inuyasha backed away from the window and faced her. "What's so funny?"

"You," she said simply.

His eyes narrowed as he scowled at her, obviously not seeing what was so amusing about himself. "_I'm_ funny?"

"At this particular moment, yes."

"Feh. You're so weird."

"Says the boy with the pointy dog ears."

"My ears aren't weird!"

"No, of course not! You're right. They _are_ perfectly normal dog ears."

"That's right."

"If they happen to be on a dog."

"You're really asking for it, wench."

"Aw, I'm sorry." Kagome grinned impishly, completely destroying any credibility her apology might have had.

"I'm sure," he huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and tilting his chin up in what she had by now deemed his 'pouting stance'.

"No really," she reached out touch his arm. "I-"

He jerked his arm from her touch as if her fingers had burned him. Her hand hung uncertainly in mid-air, fingers outstretched, as if unsure of what to do. The smile had dropped from her lips at his sudden movement and her mouth formed a small O as she blinked dumbly at the empty air in front of her. Okay, he was definitely acting weird. Had she done something wrong? Her hand dropped dejectedly to her side.

"You should get dressed. I'm sure your Mom wants to spend some time with you." She looked up in time to see him disappear behind her door to his usual waiting spot.

* * *

For a full minute, all Kagome could do was stare at the door he had just walked through and blink in mystification. She finally gave a mental shake and snapped herself out of her daze. 

So, he was going to be like that was he?

Well, as far as she could see there were several options open to her. Take her cue from the dimwit behind the door and make things all awkward and uncomfortable between them. Fake amnesia. Kiss? What kiss? Or throw herself shamelessly at him and hope for a response. Not an appetizing group of choices all in all. Looked like she would have to go with her trusty back-up.

Kagome marched to her door and flung it open, keeping one hand out to stop it from slamming into the wall. Inuyasha was leaning against the wall just outside her door, as she had suspected. His head had been bowed, looking at the floor, but had snapped up at her sudden appearance. A question was half formed on his mouth, but never got the chance to come out as she stomped over to him and grabbed the front of his coat in her fists, bunching the material together and jerking him away from the wall. His eyes widened and he lost his balance momentarily as he was half dragged back into Kagome's bedroom. He stumbled and tripped over his own feet as she yanked him mercilessly across the room and finally threw him onto her bed.

He was too surprised to even swear at her. At least for the first few seconds. She had turned around to close the door when he finally found the words that had been stunned out of him before.

"What the hell is your problem?"

The door shut with a soft click and for a moment, it seemed like the most frightening sound he had ever heard. Her back remained facing him as she released the doorknob and placed her hand palm down on the doorframe beside her.

"What is _my_ problem? What is my problem?" Her fingers began a slow tapping on the doorframe and her shoulders tensed almost imperceptibly. Inuyasha tried to swallow around the sudden dryness in his throat and wished desperately that she would turn around. Her fingers stopped their drumming and she spun around to face him finally, hands now clenched in tight fists at her sides.

He rescinded his earlier wish and tried to mentally urge her to turn back around again. The look on her face was positively fearsome. Especially since it was directed at him. Were those lightening bolts coming from her eyes or was it his imagination?

She was really scary sometimes.

"What's my problem?" Kagome took a step towards him and it was by sheer force of will he managed not to cringe back or jump up and run away.

"Do you really even have to ask?" Her voice had a dangerous quality to it, as if shouting was just one wrong answer away. She took another step and his ears pulled back slightly. So scary...

"Well?"

Oh, she actually wanted an answer? He searched his head frantically for something that wouldn't get him into too much trouble, but all of his carefully plotted speeches had fled his brain in the face of her quiet rage. To be completely honest, they had actually left the second she had opened her eyes. Prepared words were great to go over in your head in the calm darkness of the early morning, but when faced with an actual person to say them to in broad daylight, well...

He wasn't that good at speeches anyway.

"Um... no?"

Kagome crossed her arms in front of her and gave him a look that clearly said she was waiting for more.

Nothing particularly brilliant came to him at the moment, so he kept his mouth shut. It seemed like the smartest path at that particular moment.

Seeing she wasn't going to get anything else Kagome lost what little patients she had. "That's it? No. That's all you have to say? I don't expect you to pour your heart out to me Inuyasha, but you could at least give me a reason for getting the cold shoulder all of a sudden!"

Ah, there was the shouting.

"You're such a complete jerk sometimes, you know! You blow hot and cold worse than anyone I've ever met! It's so frustrating!"

His brain seemed to be out to lunch in the face of her wrath, so he went with his ever ready reply. Angry retaliation.

"This is all your fault!" he blurted out, jumping to his feet.

Oops.

But other than several rapid blinks, her expression didn't change. He realized he was pointing at her and hastily lowered his hand.

Well, that really hadn't come out like he had wanted it to.

"My fault?" Kagome uncrossed her arms and placed her hands on her hips. Inuyasha wasn't sure if it was that much of an improvement. She still looked angry, though not as scary. Small relief, that.

"_What_, exactly, is my fault?"

"Er..." Good question. What exactly was her fault? Truthfully, he wasn't sure himself, but he knew he couldn't tell her it was her fault he felt so confused or that it was her fault that he couldn't even be near her without wanting to touch her, hold her, kiss her.

No, he definitely wouldn't be telling her that.

Kagome sighed in exasperation, raising one hand to the bridge of her nose and pinching it as she closed her eyes. Honestly, he was so thick sometimes. She knew he was obviously uncomfortable with what happened last night, but he could at least be man- er, hanyou enough to tell her. Tiny pangs unhappiness pierced her chest at the thought that he regretted their kiss. She didn't regret it at all, but apparently Inuyasha wished it hadn't happened. It _had_ been rather impulsive of her, but from his response she had assumed he also enjoyed it. She sighed and dropped her hand, opening her eyes.

Well, she knew what they said about assuming things...

Several seconds had ticked by, and they only further response she had gotten from him was a slight reddening of his cheeks. Ah, so now he was embarrassed. Good. He was acting like an idiot; he _should_ be embarrassed.

Kagome abruptly turned on her heel and walked to her dresser, rummaging around until she had a complete outfit in her arms. She valiantly restrained herself from slamming the drawers shut before stomping to the door.

"...Kagome?"

Not turning around, Kagome opened the door and walked out; pausing briefly to mutter, "Forget it."

* * *

The back of a door had never looked so unfriendly. 

Of course he knew it wasn't actually the door that was feeling particularly unfriendly towards him at the moment. Nope, that right was exclusive to the girl downstairs who was probably even now cursing his name black and blue. Not that he didn't deserve it.

For the last half hour Inuyasha had been pacing the small space between the window and door, hoping that Kagome might come back and try to talk to him again. Hell, he would even be happy if she came back just to yell some more. He really didn't want to leave things between them as bad as they were. And so he paced and waited.

Never mind he was too much of a chicken to go downstairs after her.

His shoulders hunched in reflex, just thinking about the angry glares she would send his way and the stony silence he would receive. He wasn't looking forward to meeting her angry eyes again, but he knew he had to say something to her. He couldn't forget the hurt in her voice as she had walked out the door. Two words had never made him feel more ashamed in his life.

"What a mess," he told himslef in a soft growl. All he had wanted was to spend the next two days with her, enjoying her company while not so subtly hinting for her to stay. Instead he had gone and screwed it up by kissing her. And wanting to do it again. But...

Was that really so bad?

A sudden image flashed through his head. Kagome in front of a demon, eyes wide and frightened as it charged her and him stuck back in her time, unable to do anything.

He gave a deep sigh and hung his head. He wouldn't let that happen to her. If that meant her thinking him a complete ass, then so be it. He could deal with her animosity if it meant she was alive and well here in her own time where she belonged. Where he could keep an eye on her accident prone butt. So maybe her being mad at him wasn't a bad thing. After all, why would she want to go and help someone she was pissed off at?

On the other hand, it sucked to have her angry and hurt because of him. Which really put him right back where he started; debating if he should apologize to her or not.

Dammit, this was all her fault!

* * *

"Kagome, sweetie, are you okay? You look a little down." 

Kagome glanced up from the rice she was poking at. "Hmm? Oh no, I'm fine." She flashed a quick smile at her mother. "I just didn't sleep very well last night."

Mrs. Higurashi was doubtful, but let it drop for the moment. She could always pester her daughter later if she still looked like that. Smiling brightly, she raised her chopsticks in the air and waved in the vague direction of the front door.

"Your brother should be home shortly. We were all going to take a walk down to the park to look at the sakura blossoms. They bloomed so beautifully; I can't wait to see them. Won't you come with us?" Her mother looked to her hopefully.

Kagome pursed her lips in thought. There wasn't much else to do and she really liked the idea of spending some quality time with her family.

Her face broke into a genuine smile this time. "I'd love to."

If she was lucky, she could leave without Inuyasha finding out and not have to be around him for a while. It would be better for both of them if they were apart for a little bit, she decided. He was an idiot, no doubt about that, but maybe she had put him on the spot with her insistent questions. Not that he didn't have a lot to explain. But she could be a little more patient with him next time. Maybe he was just confused. She could sympathize at the moment. Giving a mental shrug, she pushed all thoughts of the aggravating, yet still somehow likable, hanyou to the back of her head.

She and her mother were just finishing the dishes when her brother made his noisy way into the house.

"I'm home!"

Several thumps and bangs later, Souta poked his head around the corner to the kitchen. He let out an indignant squeak as a pair of arms dragged him into the room and proceed to squeeze the life out of him, lifting him several inches from the floor in the process.

"Ack! Kagome...I can't breathe!" He squirmed and wriggled until his sister's grip finally loosened. Souta pulled back and made a big show of putting his clothes back in order and brushing out invisible wrinkles. He peered up into Kagome's face with a puzzled expression.

"What in the world was that for, sis?"

Kagome gave him a cheeky grin. "What? Can't a girl be happy to see her little brother?" She heard her mother laughing quietly behind her as she continued to dry off dishes.

"What? Why is that so surprising?"

Souta just shook his head with an ever suffering look. "Girls are so weird sometimes. Hey... What happened to your arm?"

Kagome glanced down at her arm. "Oh, it just got burned a little."

"You weren't trying to cook again were you? You should just give it up, you know? If you haven't figured out how to do it by now, it's a lost cause." He rolled his eyes and then jumped back from a sudden swipe from Kagome.

"You little insect! I can't believe I was happy to see you." Her brother dodged another attack and ran laughing out of the kitchen and up to his room.

"Hmmph. See what I get for trying to be nice?" she mumbled to herself. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up into her mother's dancing eyes.

"I think you do a fine job of cooking. Why don't you help me make a picnic lunch just to prove him wrong."

"Sure. And it'll serve him right if he doesn't like it."

* * *

_'Why hasn't she come back up yet?'_

Inuyasha was laying on Kagome's bed, glaring at the ceiling, arms crossed behind his head and foot bouncing in agitation on one knee. In about two minutes he was going to risk getting yelled at again and go drag her back himself. Hmm.

Well, maybe five more minutes.

The door slammed open and rebounded off the wall with enough force to make Inuyasha jump up into a surprised defensive crouch.

_'What the..'_

Kagome stood in the doorway, one hand outstretched to keep the door from coming back and hitting her. Her eyes glittered dangerously at him. Her mouth was set in a firm line and her body was tensed and looked ready to leap at him at any second.

Exactly one second later, she leapt on him.

He stumbled back under her weight and lost his balance. He landed heavily on his back with Kagome on top, his head just barely missing her night stand. His breath was momentarily knocked out of him and for what seemed like the hundredth time since he met her, Inuyasha was too surprised to speak. A pair of dark brown eyes glared down at him. She sat up so that her legs were straddling his waist and she towered over him. Before he could get too anxious about her choice of positions, her hands darted down and grabbed two locks of hair on either side of his face and yanked. Hard.

"Ooow! What the hell are you doing?" Inuyasha tried to pull his head free, but only encouraged her to yank harder. Her fingers were in an iron grip on his hair and he didn't fancy having it jerked from his skull, so he stopped struggling. He settled for a reproachful glower instead.

Finally she said something, though not the profuse apology he was looking for.

"You're a stubborn fool who doesn't know how to look any farther then ten minutes into the future. You speak without thinking. You jump to conclusions. And you don't ever show what you really feel." Each statement was emphasized by a painful tugging of hair.

"Why should I put up with you?"

Ahh, there it was. The words he knew were coming. Why should she put up with him? There was absolutely no reason she should. He was surprised she had done this well already. He knew this had been a long time coming on his part, but it still hurt to hear it from her. A very small, hopeful part of him had thought he might not hear it at all, but here she was. Finally saying she was fed up with him. That she was tired of being with him.

Inuyasha gritted his teeth and forced out his words, looking to the side so he wouldn't have to see her face. "You don't have to put up with me. Just leave me alone."

Kagome yanked his hair again, making him growl softly and look back at her. "Stop acting like an idiot. I'm not going anywhere."

Inuyasha blinked. That was definitely not what he had thought she was going to say.

"You may be brash and loud and possessive and overprotective and-"

"Is this going somewhere?"

"Oh yeah..." Kagome graced him with one of her bright smiles. "The point is, I still like you. So you need to get over whatever is bugging you and just apologize for being so insensitive."

"What! I don't have to apologize to you for anything." He folded his arms across his chest in what he hoped to be a look of finality, but probably just came off as somewhat odd, since he was still on his back, on the floor, with a girl sitting on his stomach with his hair in her hands.

She gave a warning tug. He just scowled at her.

"Okay then, if you don't seem to want to admit you were wrong..." she suddenly dropped his hair and grabbed the sides of his face.

"What..." Any other words were abruptly cut off as her mouth descended upon his. His breath caught in his throat and his brain sent off a thousand warning signals at once. Her lips pressed insistently against his and finally he relented and kissed her in return. All in all, it wasn't that hard a battle for her to win. His arms wrapped around her back and he pulled them up together into a sitting position. Against his better judgment, he found himself deepening the kiss. A small thrill went through him as her lips parted and her tongue darted out to lick his lower lip. Her hands fell from his face to rest on his shoulders and she licked lightly at his upper lip. A soft growl escaped him as his own tongue joined hers in response. After a few seconds, Kagome pulled back slightly and began to trail gentle kisses down his chin and across his jaw. He shivered at the newness and strange wonder of her attention. Kagome buried her face in his neck and nuzzled against his skin, her breath blowing in warn puffs into his hair. Inuyasha pulled her tight against his chest, never wanting to let her go.

"Kagome..." His voice came out barely above a whisper.

She raised her head and looked up at him, meeting his gaze with her own piercing one. He could have sworn she was seeing right into his soul.

"Inuyasha, tell me... why did you push me away? Why wouldn't you look at me or touch me?"

"I..." The words caught in his throat, unable to make themselves heard. Maybe it was his own stubbornness that kept them back. He wasn't really sure anymore. Should he tell her the truth? Should he tell her the things he didn't even want to know himself? Could he?

"I..." It was no use. He was too much of a coward.

He was washed with sudden cold as her warmth left him when she stood up. He stared up at her, torn between grabbing and pulling her back or wrapping his arms around himself to try and bring back some of the warmth she had taken away. In the end he just stayed sitting as he was.

Kagome's face was sorrowful as she looked down at him.

"If that's all you have to say, then I guess there really is no reason for me to be with you." She turned and started for the door.

He did grab her then, one hand whipping out and snatching her arm before she could move more than a foot. She turned back to him, her expression patient, silently waiting for him to say something.

In the longest thirty seconds he could ever remember, all he did was hold her arm and blink uselessly at her with his mouth partially open, waiting for words to come.

And then, "I'm scared."

He was surprised when he heard himself saying it. But it was the truth, and that was what she wanted.

"I'm scared Kagome. Scared that I'll lose you. That... you'll leave and won't came back. I don't want to lose you. I... I want to be with you... for as long as possible." Inuyasha released her arm and dropped his chin against his chest, not wanting to look into her searching eyes anymore. Afraid of what else he might say.

Fingers gently lifted his chin back up. A serene smile played in the young woman's mouth.

"Now was that so hard?"

Gulping heavily and thinking 'hell yes', Inuyasha shook his head, a tiny smile tugging at his own lips.

She released his chin and backed up a few steps. Her expression brightened as she lifted her arms above her head.

"Good! Now all you have to do is say it to the real thing."

_'The... real thing?'_

"What do you mean-" he choked on the rest of his question as Kagome suddenly started to fade away into a misty haze.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha bounded to his feet and reached out to her. His fingers slipped through her smoky outline and without warning, he found himself falling forward. There no longer seemed to be a floor beneath him, in fact there seemed to be nothing around him at all except the haze he was plummeting through.

"Just say it again..." her voice whispered to him through the fog. Then even that disappeared.

* * *

Thunk! 

Inuyasha opened his eyes. The carpet stared back at him from the tip of his nose. So that was where the floor went.

Pushing up from the ground, Inuyasha took a quick survey around him and decided everything was where it was supposed to be and, more importantly, there was no fog hanging in the air. That could only mean one thing then.

He must have fallen asleep while waiting for Kagome to come back upstairs. Her bed _was_ a lot more comfortable then the floor.

Inuyasha took a deep breath of air and sighed heavily. So, it had only been a dream. A very vivid, highly detailed dream, but still just a dream. A projection of his overactive subconscious. It had felt so real, especially when she had, well, when she had, um...

Inuyasha felt his cheeks burn as he remembered just how overactive his brain had been while he slept.

So real...

He dropped onto the edge of Kagome's bed with a frustrated groan. It had been hard enough to admit his feeling to her in a dream, even if he hadn't know it was a dream at the time. Did he really have to go through it a second time?

The answer, of course, was an emphatic yes. He had thought his heart would break when she'd said she didn't want to be with him any more. He wasn't looking forward to feeling that again anytime soon. He'd never had a prophetic dream before, but in this case he really didn't feel like taking a chance. Inuyasha was out the door and down the stairs in less than two seconds.

"Kagome! I have to talk to you!"

Now where had she gotten off to? He listened for any sounds that might tell him where she was, but couldn't hear anything. Or anyone. His heart gave a little jump as he realized none of her family was home either. Maybe they were all outside? He took a quick step through the wall and scanned the yard for Kagome or her family.

Still nothing.

He was beginning to feel the first edge of panic creep up on him. She wouldn't have gone somewhere without him would she? Sure she was pissed at him, but he was her Guardian. He was supposed to be nearby to keep her safe. She knew that.

_"I guess there really is no reason for me to be with you..."_

It had only been a dream though. It wasn't real. Right?

Inuyasha sprinted to the shrine, but was rewarded with only a small sigh hanging on the front door of the main temple saying they were closed, but to please enjoy the rest of his day. At least her family was with her, wherever it was she had gone. It was only a small relief though. His heart was still skipping madly about in his chest, doing its level best to imitate a humming bird.

She had left. She had really left. Without him. Without telling him.

Inuyasha leaned heavily against the wooden door and banged his fist next to his head with a sharp bang.

Dammit!

If only he hadn't fallen asleep, he would have noticed her leaving. It was obvious she didn't want his company, but he still could have followed and kept an eye on her. The the sudden unhappy memory of her being cornered by a couple of punks popped into his head. If she got into trouble, who was going to help her? Her mother wouldn't be able to do anything and her brother was too young to fend off anything bigger than Buyo. And her grandfather...

Inuyasha banged his fist against the door again and took a deep breath through his nose, trying to calm his churning thought. The smell of old wood, incense and many different people invaded his senses.

His eyes popped open. Of course! He was such a dimwit.

He could track her down by smell.

Inuyasha spun around and looked for a decent place to start. Ah yes, the stairs. Unless they were looking to tramp through plenty of bushes and undergrowth to get to the sidewalk, they would have gone down them. He ran to the top of the steps and knelt down. It had been quite a while since he had last tracked anything from the ground, but he was sure it wouldn't be hard. After all, he knew Kagome's sent almost as well as his own. He sniffed delicately, nose close to the ground, trying to catch her scent without too much dust mixed in. Yes! He could detect her easily, just as he had thought, and her scent was still fairly new too!

With a hope lifting his spirits, he bounced down to the bottom of the stairs and began his search in earnest.

* * *

AN- Due to my loquacious tendencies, I didn't get nearly as far with this as I had hoped to. Ah well, you've all been waiting patiently so I decided to send it out like this. More shall come soon, but proably not as quickly as you might like. :-( Within the week for sure though. 

Q and A (It's been a while, so I hope I don't miss anyone)

Q. **KyteAura**- What other couples will be involved in this or the following fic?

A. Probably some light Mir/San and Shippou/Kaede... Heh. Just kidding about that one. (...or am I?).

Q. **Raku-Onna**- If Inuyasha eats food, does that mean he has to eliminate the waste from said foods, or does his spirit-ish body not process it like his normal body would?

A. I have to say that this is one of the most interesting questions I have ever had. Though I wonder if it's strange that I've also pondered over this particular subject? LoL Inuyasha hasn't eaten anything yet, so the, uh, issue has never come up. I do, however, think it would make a rather amusing scene to have Inuyasha eat something and then have him do the potty dance later on. But I have a skewed sense of humor so maybe it's just me who would find that funny, hehe.

Q. **Inuyashababe44**- Will Kagome's granddad (and Souta) ever find out?

A. Yup. In fact it should be coming up in the next few chapters, that is, if my rambling doesn't get too out of hand.

Q. **Ikimono Joufu**- Are you going to do a lemon?

A. Egad, no. I get embarrassed just writing the smoochy scenes. :-) The most I will go to is probably orange scented at best.

Q. **fire**- Who was watching her in the feudal era? Will she finish her training and free Inuyasha? What will happen?

A. Shippou was the little voyeur in the woods, she will (eventually) finish training and free Inuyasha (hmm at least I think she will) and you'll just have to keep coming back to see what happens.

Q. **Controlfreak**- Since human Inuyasha has made an appearance, and hanyou is his regular form, will full-youkai Inuyasha have a spot in the fic? Which brings around another question: Does Inuyasha have the Tetsuaiga?

A. I honestly haven't thought about putting in the full youkai Inuyasha. He probably won't be making an appearance, which is for the best since he has absolutely no manners whatsoever. Inuyasha does not have Tetsuaiga. It is still safely tucked away in his eye. Hmm, that just sounds weird...

Q.**Inuyashafreke**- Does Inuyasha sleep with Kagome?

A. No, he sleeps on the floor next to her though. :-)

Q. **bitterending**- Do I get my fluffiness?

A. Yes, yes. Here are your fluffies. And whether you believe it or not, I do not have a professional writing career. LoL Though thank you for assuming so; my head is now swelled to twice its normal size.

Q. **Pwalefriend**- Is Inuyasha only able to feel Kagome's presence when she's near him in the past when the curse takes hold, or is he able to feel it now that he's semi-free as well?

A. I'm not sure if I'm understanding the question correctly, but Inuyasha can't feel her while he's in the present time. He could only feel her in the past that first time because he was forced into quasi-sleepiness, but refused to leave her side. It is likely to not be repeated.

C. **priestess kisa**- You didn't actually have a question, but I felt inclined to comment. My definition of the phrase 'make out' is when two people kiss for a length of time. It doesn't necessarily have to be 7 Minutes in Heaven or some sort of grope fest. So in that sense, to me, they have already made out. I agree that it would be incredibly out of character for them to sit on the couch and feel each other up. Rest assured I will have no such nonsense as that in _this_ fic.

Q. **Sangome**- Who has the mysterious eyes that stalked Kagome? Will Shippou make an appearance? And what about Naraku?

A. It is Shippou-of-the-mysterious-eyes, so he will be appearing shortly. Naraku (damn his black soul) will be around, eh, eventually...

Q. **ShadowDemoness413**- Is Kagome gonna get to touch Inuyasha's ears? Will it be an accident? Can Kagome's mom see Inuyasha by the well?

A. She shall triumph! This I swear. Accident? I think not. It shall be carefully plotted to the tiniest detail and executed with stealth-like precision. Either that or she'll just get impatient and jump him. I suppose if Kagome's mother were to ever go to the well and Inuyasha was there she would be able to see him. It has the same effect as the tree after all.

Q. **Le'letha**- Do Kagome's grandfather and brother know she's traveling through time?

A. As far, they are in the dark about the whole 'going back in time and saving my half-demon Guardian' thing. They shall soon be enlightened though. And about the algebra thing... Believe me, it shames us all.

Q.** XxDemonicPrincessxX**- Will Inuyasha be released soon?

A. Probably not. LoL I seem to take quite awhile getting to certain places.


	23. Hanami

Disclaimer- Due to a typographical error in my contract, I am no longer the owner of Inuyasha. Apparently someone name Rumiko Takahashi is. Well, that will teach me to read before I sign...

AN- Now let's see if we can actually get somewhere with this chapter. Thanks for all the great reviews. Just when I think I've put out a piece of junk, you guys tell me how much you like it. It's a great ego boost.

Hanami

"It's okay Mom, really." Kagome linked her arm with her mothers and gave a friendly squeeze.

"Yeah mom, it's not like you knew they were closed," Souta called back from his position almost half a block ahead of them. He turned around and waited for them to catch up a little before skipping ahead once more.

Mrs. Higurashi sighed. "I know, but I still feel bad for dragging everyone all the way out here. The next park isn't for miles. I guess we'll have to get back on the subway."

"Don't worry about it honey," Kagome's grandfather said, giving his daughter a pat on the shoulder. "It's just good to get out for a while."

She tilted a grateful smile to him. "Sorry to make you close the shrine and then blow our plans, Dad."

Grandpa Higurashi waved her comment away. "I needed to spend more time with my family anyways. I'm not getting any younger you know."

Kagome leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Only in spirit, gramps."

"Heh heh. Well getting a kiss from such a pretty young girl certainly makes me feel young!"

"Oh grandpa, stop!" Kagome blushed as she gave his arm a playful swat.

"Yeah," perked up Souta. "Kagome's not that pretty!"

"Hey! Who asked you?"

"Just stating the obvious."

"Yeah, well my hand is about to be even more _obvious_ to you." Kagome waved a threatening fist in the air and sprinted over to her brother, who giggled madly and darted away.

The two adults watch in amusement as Kagome chased her brother up and down the sidewalk, eyes shining and cheeks pink. Their playful shouts and happy laughter rang up and down the streets, causing passersby to shake their heads and smile.

"Kagome's looking much brighter. She looked a little down at breakfast this morning."

Kagome's mother nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it's good to see her smiling. It's just not natural to see her without it!" She chuckled as she watched her children racing around. "What do you say we just walk instead of taking the subway? It's so nice out."

Grandpa Higurashi scratched his chin as he thought the idea over. "Well I suppose this old man should walk while he's still able to."

His daughter let out a short burst of laughter at his words.

"Oh Dad!"

She leaned down and planted a kiss on his cheek as Kagome had done earlier. "Trust me, you'll never be old."

* * *

"Move your fat, smelly feet you old bat!"

Fifteen minutes had passed since Inuyasha had left the bottom of stairs that led up to the Sunset Shrine.

Fifteen long, frustrating, hair-pulling minutes.

"I swear... If you don't move that wrinkled ass of yours in the next three seconds, I'm going to push you in front of the next car I see."

The old woman next to him continued to stare into the store window in front of her.

"One..."

The woman tilted her head and pursed her lips in thought.

"Two..."

She tilted her head the other way, examining the dress in the window from a new angle.

"Thr-"

The old lady suddenly turned and passed through him as she made her way to the door of the shop.

"Bout damn time," he muttered as he fell into a crouch for probably the hundredth time that day. It had been an empty threat, but he had been tempted to throw her pocketbook down the street instead. Inuyasha rested his hands in front of him and dropped down to his knees as he tried to pick up Kagome's scent once more. People walked up and down the sidewalk, oblivious to the hanyou on his hands and knees with his nose to the ground. Unfortunately, though it was a plus they couldn't see him, it was also annoying that they were constantly stepping in front of his line of scent and obscuring whatever leads he had picked up to Kagome's whereabouts.

It had been easy at first. At the bottom of the steps, until the end of the street, Inuyasha had been able to pick her scent up immediately and follow it without trouble.

Then he reached the crosswalk and it had all been downhill from there.

There was almost no trace of her under all the smells of tires, oil and combustion on the street, but common sense told him that if she had been standing at the crosswalk, odds were she had gone to the other side of the road. Luck had been with him and though the sidewalk was more crowded on that side, he had picked her out again without too much trouble.

And then he got to the shopping district.

Kagome's scent had all but disappeared as he turned the corner and was overwhelmed by the sheer number of people and scents in one place. And so the last ten minutes he had managed to move a total of three street blocks forward. It was really quite irritating.

Some higher power must have finally decided to take pity on him as he took a break and sat with his back to the wall of some building or another. As Inuyasha turned to look down the sidewalk, Kagome's scent floated just under his nose and tickled his senses. Inuyasha whipped his head around to see if she had made a sudden, and at that point very welcome, appearance. The scent vanishes as soon as he moved his head. Frowning, Inuyasha looked back to where he was before.

Ta-da. Kagome's scent.

Inuyasha stood up to see over the crowd better. Poof. No more scent. He clenched his hands into fists and tried not to swear too loud, just in case she really was hanging around. He kneeled on the ground again and tried to see if maybe he had just missed something, but found only the same bunch of nothing he had before. Settling into a crouch in the middle of the sidewalk, people passing around and through him, Inuyasha reigned in his temper long enough to try and think why he had suddenly smelled her so strongly.

Okay, she wasn't hanging around in the crowd, or walking across the street. He couldn't find her scent on the ground. The only place he had smelled her was when he was leaning against the-

Oh. Duh.

Inuyasha smacked himself on the forehead. Of course. He had picked up her scent from the wall; no wonder he couldn't find it when he stood up. After he figured out that rather obvious piece of information it was only seconds before he was back on her track. He inwardly blessed Kagome's fondness for trailing her fingers along walls and rails.

Now it should be easy enough to catch up to her.

* * *

"Wow."

"For once, I agree with Souta. That is a definite wow." Kagome's eyes were wide as she scanned the park area.

Mrs. Higurashi sighed heavily.

"Not to worry, we can squeeze in... somewhere." But Kagome's grandfather looked as doubtful as he sounded as he too watched the hundreds of milling people in front of them.

Kagome gave a small shake of her head. "I know it's cherry blossom season, but this is ridiculous. Were there this many people last year?"

Her mother tilted her head to the side as she thought. "I don't think so, but I've haven't been to this park during season before."

As far as the Higurashi family could see, families and couples, businessmen and workers on lunch break, sight-seeing tourists and foreigners were crowding the park and all the grounds surrounding it. There was barely any room to walk around, much less to sit down and enjoy lunch. Even the paths through the grass and trees were obscured by meandering people trying to get a good spot for blossom viewing.

Kagome spun around and thrust one arm in the air, fingers stretched. "I motion we keep walking."

Souta raised his arm also. "I second that."

Kagome's mother and grandfather exchanged glances and with matching smiles, raised their hands together.

"Alright then," Mrs. Higurashi chirped. "Off we go then."

_Thirty Minutes Later_

"Is it even legal to have that many people in one area? I mean, it's some sort of fire hazard isn't it?"

"I don't think it really counts if everyone is outside already, Kagome dear."

"Hey look! Those people are sitting on the fence even! Hey Mom, can we-"

"No, Souta. We aren't going to sit on the fence."

"Awww."

"I wonder if there might be a higher power trying to keep us from sitting down and enjoying lunch."

"Somehow I don't think that's the case Dad."

"Okay Mom, what now? Should we just go home?"

"It seems such a shame after we came so far though."

"Well it wouldn't hurt to try one more place, what do you think children? Shall we try once more for your mother?"

"I don't mind."

"Yeah! Come on let's go, I'm starting to get hungry."

"You guys are the best."

_About Twenty Minutes Later_

"Okay, let's go home."

"Yeah."

"Maybe it's for the best."

"I guess we'll just have to come out earlier next time..."

* * *

The subway.

She _would_ have had to go and get on a damn train.

Of course.

It would have been too easy to just walk to wherever she was going. No, let's throw off the poor hanyou Guardian trying to protect our sorry ass. Let's take the freaking subway!

_'Maybe I should just go home and wait for her...'_

But Inuyasha hated admitting defeat. Even if it was only to a huge, moving piece of metal. Besides, he didn't feel comfortable just waiting for Kagome to come back. He had an almost desperate need to see her and make sure she was okay. It was actually like that every time she wasn't near him; as if some part of himself was missing when she was gone. Restlessness and worry were always predominant when she wasn't around.

And so...

Onto the train he went. He had a only a tiny hint as to where she had gotten off. He hoped it was enough.

And so, as he stood in front of the closed gates of an empty park ten minutes later, he couldn't keep the string of rather hash expletives from spilling out of his mouth.

Some much for his detective skills.

_'That woman was going on and on about them yesterday. I was almost sure they would have come here.'_

But alas, the park would be accommodating no people that day. On closer inspection of the sign posted on the gate, he saw they would actually be open next Monday for hanami, and would remain so until the end of cherry blossom season.

"Couldn't have opened today? No, had to wait until next week. Stupid garden. I came all the way out here and you're clo-"

Wait a minute. If he had come out here thinking the place was open, maybe Kagome and her family had come here too? He dropped to the ground and did his little bloodhound routine. After a few minutes, his 'dogged' persistence was rewarded with the lingering scent of one very hard to come by school girl.

Fortunately, since the park itself was off limits to the public for the time being, there were fewer people hanging around on the sidewalks. There were still enough to make him growl in frustration more than once, but it wasn't nearly as bad as last time. As he neared the entrance to another park, Inuyasha's heart sunk. How was he supposed to find her in that mess? He viewed the chattering, laughing, happy throng of people and wondered if he could just start throwing people over the fence and cutting his own path. He doubted it. Figuring his nose was probably the best bet, even with so many people around, he set to the ground once more. It was a pleasant and highly unexpected surprise to find that Kagome's trail didn't even make it to the edge of the grass before turning and continuing it's merry way down the sidewalk.

He silently thanked her for the small favor.

Twice more he approached a public park only to be rerouted down the street and onward once more. Not that he could blame them. He got claustrophobic just looking at the tightly packed mass of people. Damn, but this city sure loved its cherry blossoms. They had barely opened a couple of days ago and already every park and garden in the area was swamped with viewers.

Apparently, Kagome's family wasn't too thrilled about being crushed by hundreds of sakura watchers either, as they had yet to go into a park. That was fine by him, it made things that much simpler for him and he was all for things being less difficult.

As time passed by, Inuyasha found the buildings around him were becoming more and more familiar. In fact, they looked suspiciously like the ones near her house...

"I don't fucking believe it!"

Inuyasha leaped to his feet and took a good look at his surroundings. Sure enough, he could place his exact location to only a few miles outside the school where Kagome attended. Which meant they were less than an hour from the shrine by walking standards.

At first, he wanted to punch the wall beside him as hard as he could and see how big a hole he could put through it, but after a few seconds the reality of his situation hit him and doubled over, resting his hands on his knees.

And laughed.

It took him a while to get his shoulders to stop shaking and for the chuckles to trail off, but eventually he managed to stand up straight once more. With one final disbelieving shake of his head, Inuyasha bounded down the sidewalk, abandoning Kagome's trail in favor of something a little bit faster.

Obviously they were on their way back home. Judging by the strength of her scent, he guess Kagome and her family were still walking, so it was possible that he would be able to find them soon. He hesitated a moment, wondering if they might decide to go somewhere else before returning home, but decided if he didn't find them, he would just come back and pick up where he left off. His nose needed the break anyway.

Inuyasha jumped onto one of the lower buildings and scanned the clusters of people walking up and down the sidewalk. Nothing. He bounced his way over to another building and stopped to look again. He repeated this procedure five more times before finally, finally finding what he was looking for.

He heaved a huge sigh of relief and a tension he hadn't even know was there flowed from his back and shoulders.

She was there, she was safe. She was... talking to a boy.

_'Who the _hell _is that?'_

Whoosh. The tension rushed right back into his back and shoulders. He comes all the way out here, tracking her down for _miles_, and she's out there talking to some boy? Of all the ungrateful... Inuyasha tried to calm himself down, remembering that she didn't know he was looking for her and was mad at him.

But it still pissed him off for some reason.

He leaped closer and closer until he could see them clearly. They were walking together, her family a short way up from her, and talking about something or other. He couldn't hear them yet. With one final jump, Inuyasha landed on the sidewalk and caught up to the elusive young woman. Creeping closer, but keeping out of her line of vision, Inuyasha could just make out some of what they were saying. Nothing of interest popped out at him. He must have been a schoolmate of hers, since that seemed to be all they were talking about. Ah, now he remembered who the whelp was. That annoying Hojo kid that came to see her when she was sick. He immediately felt the urge to trip him. Unfortunately, his newfound semi-freedom from his curse didn't extend to the harm of living things. At least not people. He wasn't sure about animals and he knew for a fact he could step on at least a bug or two. And weeds had never really been on his 'do not hurt' list, but he was getting off the subject...

What were they talking about now?

"So after four different parks and almost two hours of walking around, we've finally just decided to give up and go home. I think next time we'll have to get up at dawn to find a spot for lunch!" Kagome's tinkling laughter floated to his ears and Inuyasha smiled before remembering who it was directed at and returning to his former scowl.

"Well actually," Hojo said with a smile that made Inuyasha want to throttle him. "There's a little spot I know of that's not too far away from here. It's not really a park or anything. In fact it only has three or four trees I think, but it's really quite pretty. The cherry blossoms started blooming there last week, so I think they are beginning to fall right about now. And it doesn't usually get a lot of visitor, since it is a little hard to find. I could give you directions if you like."

Kagome's face split into a happy grin. "That's so nice of you Hojo. Let me go tell my family and see if they would like that." She jogged over to join her family and related Hojo's words. From what he could tell, they thought the idea good and his suspicions were confirmed a minute later when Kagome ran back and asked for the directions.

"Okay, I think I can find that." She paused for a second and then flashed a sweet smile at the boy. "Would you like to join us?"

_'No.'_

"I'd like to, but I can't," Hojo replied with a regretful smile back.

_'Aw, what a shame.'_

"I'm afraid I have to go pick up some things at the store for my grandmother. In fact, I should probably get going. It was a pleasure speaking to you Higurashi. I'll see you at school in a couple weeks."

"Alright, bye Hojo. Thanks for the directions." She waved as he jogged across the street and disappeared in the crowd, then practically skipped over to her family to share Hojo's directions. Then they all set off together, Inuyasha trailing along behind.

* * *

"Oooh, it is pretty here."

"Mmm-hmm. Quiet too."

"Yeah, it's really nice. Can we eat now?"

"Souta! Er, actually I am kind of hungry too, Mom."

Mrs. Higurashi laughed and handed the cooler she was carrying over to her son.

"Alright! Hey gramps, come put the blanket over here!"

Kagome wandered around as her brother and grandfather set up their picnic blanket and lunch, her mother watching a little way off and occasionally laughing at something Souta said. Hojo had been right about there not being many cherry trees. She counted four, though one was almost all green and with few blossoms left to it. Even as she stood watching it, the tree let a few more petals swirl gracefully to the ground. The area they were sent to was small, approximately the size one of the smaller classrooms at her school, but serene. Kagome and her family were currently the only occupants. As she made a slow circle around the edge of the property, she wondered if maybe this place had been meant to be something bigger or more grand than it actually was. Nestled in a little cul-de-sac behind some older buildings and past several side streets, the little grassy field had looked incredibly out of place with its shady trees and occasional flower bush.

Not that she was complaining. While not the glorious view she had been hoping for, the four out of place trees were theirs alone to enjoy for the moment. Kagome glanced down at the grass beneath her feet, noting it was short and well maintained. Someone must have been fond of the place, because she was certain it wasn't a city park of any sort, but she was pretty sure it wasn't just someone's back yard either. It felt too open and inviting, as if it was just waiting for someone to come by and enjoy its peaceful refuge from the busy city streets.

"Kagome! Come eat!"

She looked over her shoulder and saw her brother waving franticly for her to come over.

"Coming!" She turned completely to run back to her family, but paused as she caught a brief glimpse of something red from the branches of the mostly green tree. She stepped closer to investigate, a niggling suspicion coming to the front of her head that she _knew_ what she would find when she looked up into the foliage. Or rather, she knew _who_ she would find. A few more feet would place her directly under the tree and able to see up through the leaves and into the branches above. There was a soft rustle and several blossoms floated to the grass below, as if something were moving in the greenery above. Most likely trying to get higher up and out of sight...

"Kagome! Come on, what are you doing?" Souta was on his feet bouncing impatiently from foot to foot, probably seconds away from running over and dragging her bodily to the blanket. Kagome gave one last glance to the tree and shook her head, one side of her mouth quirking up in a half smile.

"Don't go anywhere just yet," she whispered to the leaves and flowers above. And any stray hanyou hiding within them.

She turned on her heel and dashed over to her family, which was far enough away to miss the quiet curses the sakura blossoms muttered under their breaths.

* * *

The afternoon had grown late by the time they were all packed up and ready to finally head home. Kagome could barely feel the depressing weights of the day before bearing down on her now. Perhaps when the night came and the quite darkness crept up on her she would once again relive the horrors of reality and the terrors of her unconscious mind. But that would wait until later. There was something else to deal with first.

As her family began to leave the grassy field, Kagome tugged her mother to the rear and waited until her grandfather and brother were out of earshot.

"Hey mom, I'll catch up to you guys later okay? I need to talk, uh, alone..."

Her mother raised a hand, a knowing smile on her face. "Say no more, Kagome. You want to talk to Inuyasha, right?"

"Well, um, yeah." Kagome blushed momentarily before reminding herself that, most likely, her talk with Inuyasha would probably involve quite a lot of yelling and very little to get all pink in the cheek about.

"Okay, honey," Mrs. Higurashi said, leaning down to plant a kiss on her daughter's forehead. "Don't be too long."

"I won't." Kagome waved to her mom as she left, waiting until she had disappeared around the same corner as her brother and grandfather before turning around to face the tiny cherry grove.

_'I wonder if he'll come out first. Probably going to have to drag him do-' _

"Aaaah!"

Kagome stumbled backwards and landed on her butt in a rather inelegant sprawl.

"Stop doing that!" she roared to the grinning hanyou looming above her.

"Doing what?"

"That thing," Kagome griped as she picked herself up, waving away Inuyasha's hand. "You know, the sneaking up on me thing."

"Oh yeah, that."

Kagome dusted off her clothes and glared at him as best she could. "Don't you give me that innocent look. You knew perfectly well what you were doing."

"Don't glare so much Kagome, you're face might get stuck like that."

"It seems to stuck like this anyway, whenever I'm around you."

"Yeah, I noticed that too."

In spite of herself, Kagome began to smile. "You're incorrigible."

"I try." His smile matched hers.

Suddenly finding herself a little flustered, Kagome turned away to walk towards one of the more blossom laden trees. She knelt down on one knee and picked up a fallen flower, waiting for Inuyasha to join her, as he did a second later. Still kneeling and playing with the blossom in her hand, Kagome spoke.

"Why are you here?"

He must have expected this question, because he answered right away. "I was worried. Why did you leave without me?"

Inwardly, Kagome was somewhat surprised at how calm he was being, but tried not to let it show, lest her good luck run out. Of course if she answered him truthfully, he would probably get mad anyway. She didn't want to lie just to spare his feelings though. He would see right through her, even if did choose to lie. Then he would get really pissed. Such were the downsides of having such a temperamental friend. Kagome finally decided to just be honest, if he didn't like the truth then oh well.

"I'm angry, well, I _was_ angry. I didn't want to be around you." She stood and turned to see how took her little admission. Surprisingly, he only looked a little sad.

"I knew that, but I came anyway." He looked sheepish as he said the last part. "I, um, had a bad dream."

Kagome gave him a quizzical look. "About what?"

Instead of answering her, Inuyasha turned and began pacing in front of the cherry tree, occasionally kicking a pile of fallen flowers. "You know it was a real pain in the ass tracking you down."

"Tracking me down?"

Again he ignored her question. "I felt like giving up a couple times, but would get these horrible images of terrible things happening to you and I would keep going. I think my nose has gone numb..."

"I'm fine as you can see."

He shrugged. "That's not the point."

Kagome put her hands on her hips and gave him an exasperated look. "What exactly is the point?"

Inuyasha stopped his pacing and flopped cross-legged to the ground. He stared at the ground for a few moments before looking up at her. When he finally did, the look in his eyes was unsure and slightly nervous. Now why did he look like that?

"Kagome, you... you're the first friend I've ever had." Kagome blinked in shock and opened her mouth, but was waved quiet. "I know you're going to say that isn't possible, but it is. I don't really want to go into too much right now, but just believe me when I say it isn't easy being neither completely human or completely demon back the time I was born. You end up not belonging to either, rejected by both. Not a whole lot of chances to make friends that way."

_'I had no idea it was that bad.'_ Kagome felt her heart go out to him. She couldn't imagine being shunned by everyone who met her. What must it have been like for him? And why was he deciding to tell her all this now? Well, that didn't really matter. No friends...

"But, your family..."

My father died when I was born, my mother, five years after."

_'All alone at five years old?'_

"You didn't have any brothers or sisters?"

A bitter look came over his face, as if he had tasted something bad. "Don't make me laugh. My _half_-brother would sooner slit my throat than take me in."

"You're kidding!"

Inuyasha smiled, but it was tight and unpleasant. "Not about Sesshoumaru."

Kagome blinked. _'I wonder if everyone in his family has such odd names.'_

Taking a few steps forward, Kagome knelt next to Inuyasha and put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm honored to be your first friend Inuyasha."

His smile this time was genuine. "Thanks."

"And if you behave yourself, I won't have to slit your throat."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "I'd like to see you try."

"Hmph, don't tempt me."

"Kagome?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

Kagome lost her balance and fell over. Her eyes were wide and her mouth hung open in shock. Did he just apologize to her? _Without_ a severe beating?

"Oh, don't look so damn surprised. I can admit when I'm wrong... sometimes."

"Uh huh..."

"Oh never mind! I take it back; I'm not sorry."

"No wait, don't take it back!"

"Hmmm, alright. If you can stand the shock of hearing it again, I really am sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you're feelings this morning. I was... a little confused I guess."

"I figured. I'm sorry too. For, you know, blowing up like that." Kagome blushed, remembering her explosive words.

"I kind of deserved it, I guess. And um, about last night..."

"Forget it."

Inuyasha started in surprise. "Huh?"

Kagome stood up once more and walked a little ways off, before turning around again. She had a bright smile on her face and her eyes were shining. "You really made me feel a lot better. I won't say I regret kissing you, cause I don't, but it's okay if you're confused about it. And it doesn't have to hang between us either. I really like you Inuyasha. And now I know you consider me a friend too. That can be enough. Right?"

Inuyasha nodded his head dumbly, staring at her with unblinking eyes.

"I'm kind of glad you came after me Inuyasha. I always feel better when you're around, even if I'm mad at you." She winked at him as she said the last.

Shaking his head slowly, Inuyasha got to his feet and walked next to Kagome. "You know, I think you are one of the most confusing people I've ever met. But, I'm glad to know you and... I hope we can be together for a long time. What I really came after you to say is-"

"I know."

"What?"

Kagome took his hand and smiled. "I know already. You don't have to say it."

"But-"

"It's fine. Everybody gets a little scared every now and then. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

Now Inuyasha's jaw dropped in shock. "How the hell did you know that?"

Kagome gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "You aren't very good at hiding your emotions you know. Your eyes and your voice give away everything. When you called my name before I left, I could see it. Plain as day. Though I suppose if it makes you feel better, we could just say it's because friends just know these things."

"Feh, what a load of crap that would be."

"Yeah, but it's an easy out."

"You're so weird."

Kagome grinned and shrugged.

Inuyasha grinned back. "Don't change okay?"

"Yes sir!" Kagome shouted, giving a sharp salute.

"Jeez, let's get out of here, I think the cherry blossom smell is getting to your head."

"I think you're right. Let's go home."

* * *

Kagome's two week break flew by for her. Before leaving the Feudal Era the last time, she notified Kaede she would only be able to come on the weekends while school was in session. The thought of balancing training with school and homework was a daunting one, but Kagome considered herself up for the challenge. She felt her training was going well and her archery was definitely improving, only having whacked herself in the arm twice more. Inuyasha had finally given up trying to keep her from the well. It had only taken five more subduings to get to that point. Though the last time she had come back down the well she had been rather amused to find a human Inuyasha stuck at the bottom. Apparently he had hoped that he might be able to travel in his human form and had jumped down without remembering to put the ladder down first. She had spent several hours teasing him after that, being stuck down the well herself until someone came to help. No helpful vines or handy claws to assist in the climb up. Luckily, her mom came to check on her when she didn't show up after a while. She laughed quietly, but managed not to tease the pouting Inuyasha like her daughter.

When her first week of school ended Kagome was more than ready to head back down the well. She had come to love the Feudal Era, with it's fresh air and vast forests. It was so different from everything she had grown up with, she was even willing to overlook the lack of plumbing and hot baths.

Early Saturday morning, Kagome and Inuyasha walked to the well, Kagome laden with her backpack and a couple school books, Inuyasha with his usual frown and grumpy attitude.

"Don't pout Inuyasha. I'll only be gone until tomorrow night."

"I'm not pouting, thank you."

"You are too."

"No I'm not! I don't pout!"

"Jeez, now you're just being cranky."

"Oh shut up."

Kagome sighed. They reached the well house and went down the steps. Sitting on the side of the well, Kagome looked down into it's dark depths and sighed again. "Okay, okay." She turned to Inuyasha and laughed at the sight of him with his arms crossed, leaning against the steps. Definitely pouting. "I'll come back early alright?"

Inuyasha brightened and uncrossed his arms. "How early?"

Kagome put a finger to her mouth and thought. "Um, how about lunch tomorrow?"

"Tonight." He countered.

"No."

"Tomorrow morning?" He asked hopefully.

"Tomorrow at lunch, Inuyasha. I have to stay for a little while at least.

Inuyasha crossed his arms again, but still looked a little happier. "Alright. Lunch tomorrow."

"See you then!" Kagome waved happily before jumping down and being swallowed by the blue light.

A short while later, she was climbing up vines in the other time period. When she reached the top she almost fell back in at the sight of the person before her. Clinging to the side of the well, she waited to see whether the other person was friendly or not before getting out. She could always just let go and fall back to her time if they meant her harm.

Suddenly remembered a dream she had. She had seen this person before!

"Ah, so you're finally back. I knew this was where you came from. You're scent is all over it and I saw you go down it before and disappear."

Kagome blinked, finally getting over her initial shock.

"Who... who are you?"

"Oh," the person in front of her grinned cheekily. "That doesn't really matter, but you are either going to give me that Sacred Jewel you have or I'm going to take it."

* * *

AN- Whew. Look, a new face! Yea! But... who is it? Oh don't act like you don't know LoL. Hehehe.

Q and A

Q. **Inuyashafreke**- Will Inuyasha tell Kagome how he feels about her?

A. He's getting there. Slowly but surely. Damn stubborn half dog demons.

Q. **Lake of Fire**- How will I get featured in the review responses?

A. Congratulations. By simply adding a legitimate question, you too have become one of the few, the proud, the uh... well... you get the picture.

Q.** XxDemonic-PrincessxX**- Kagome's mom didn't see Inuyasha yet, right?

A. Actually she has, though she still can't hear him. I forget which chapter it is, but the one where they go to the park and Kagome gets jumped by the two guys is the first time her mom sees him.

Q. **Blade Of Iceflame**- Orange-scented? What does that mean?

A. I mean that there will not be any lemony scenes, but there might be some situations that might be considered slightly citrus tinged. Their kissing scene comes to mind. No lemon, but still a little juicy.

Q. **random**- Does the well work in the same style as it does in the series? If so, then wouldn't it be difficult for Kagome to have the same relationship with Shippou?

A. The well works the same, so it will be difficult, but I shall try not to bore him to death picking herbs with Kaede all day. Somehow.

Q. **Le'letha**- If Inuyasha keeps pacing around Kagome's room, will he wear a hole in the floor and fall through to the downstairs?

A. That is an excellent question. LoL Technically he could fall downstairs through the floor anytime he wants to. Though it might take a few more months to do it the old fashioned way.

Q. **Crystalfire92**- If you're not doing a lemon, why did you change the rating from PG-13(T) to R(M)?

A. Because FF has very strict rules about what is age appropriate. The amount of vivid gore I had in that particular chapter (21 I think) was enough that I didn't want to take a chance on being deleted. Better safe than sorry.

Q. **little ghost**- I was wondering how when it's a new moon, Inuyasha can go anywhere and do anything mostly and that the spell only works on humans, could Kagome go through the well on the night of the new moon and Inuyasha's body should be human itself, so could Kagome just be able to slide the arrow out without being electrified?

A. That is a very good thought. It's well thought out and logically correct, but unfortunately, not possible. The way I figure, Inuyasha's body is in suspended animation pinned to the tree. Time goes by around him, but his body isn't effected by it. In the anime, Naraku didn't know that Inuyasha turned human on the new moon. If he were pinned to the tree for fifty years and changed into a human, odds are Naraku would have made the connection in that time. So, Kagome will just have to get that arrow out the hard way. Perhaps a pair of rubber gloves might help...

Q. **houen-aishita**- Will there be a lemon scene?

A. No... Hentai:-P Nooo not bunny Princess Booboo!

Q. **ApAtHy aNgEl**- How old is Kagome in this fic?

A. She is fourteen right now. But she will turn fifteen soon, which incidentally will coincide with Inuyasha's release... Dun dun dun...

Q. **AkeryouSesshoumarusMate**- Will Sesshoumaru, Rin, Jaken, Ah-Un and Kikyo be in it?

A. Most likely, but probably not for a while. Sesshoumaru go a mini cameo in this one at least. LoL

Q. **BassSista**- The part of Inuyasha being connected to Kagome and that he is not able to stray far reminds me of the connection between People and their Daemons in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. Have you read that and is this where you got the idea from?

A. That's very observative. I didn't even remembered that. I have read the books, years and years ago. So no, unless is was subconsciously, I didn't get the idea from him. I simply wanted to make a painful and annoying spell for Inuyasha. Wicked I know.


	24. Jewel

Disclaimer- I suppose that, _technically_, I don't own Inuyasha...

AN- Thanks for all the great reviews, it's my favorite part. He he. Since the last chapter took such a long time to get out I've put this one out early! Well, earlier...

BTW- I've deviated from the original storyline and shall continue to do so with the rest of the characters I think. It works for me, cause I'm too lazy to do a lot of research. :-)

Jewel

"What... what are you talking about?"

A pointy little nose shoved itself towards her face, causing Kagome to almost lose her grip once again as she jerked back. Her arms were beginning to get tired and she debated dropping back into the well just to relieve them.

"Don't play dumb!" The shout jerked her out of her mental wanderings. "Now hand over the jewel and I won't have to hurt you." Sharp looking eyes narrowed dangerously at this last statement.

_'Okay enough is enough.'_

Kagome heaved herself over the edge of the well without warning, startling her menacing companion. Dropping her feet to the ground, Kagome stretched her arms over her head and gave a sigh of relief.

"Sorry about that, but my arms were killing me." Kagome brought her arms back down and gave the person in front of her a quick looking over. Finally, she smiled and held out her hand. "You're kind of cute. I'm Kagome, what's your name?"

"C...cute! Lady, didn't you hear me?"

Kagome let her hand fall back to her side. "Yeah, I did. It's just..." She trailed off and suddenly reached down to scoop up her now confused acquaintance in a giant hug.

"You're so cu-ute!"

The little fox boy in her arms squirmed and struggled against the affectionate, yet somehow unbreakable, hug. After a minute of useless wiggling, he resigned himself to an angry pout.

"I knew I should have changed shapes."

* * *

Kagome's eyes watered slightly as the little fox demon in front of her finished his tale.

"Oh, Shippou, that's horrible!"

In a condensed version, the little kitsune had just recently lost his father to territorial demons from farther north. He had traveled his way down here on a rumor of a jewel that could make any demon stronger than his wildest dreams. He had almost given up hope of finding it when he had seen Kagome one day and noticed the scent of power surrounding her.

Shippou sniffled and nodded his head, feet swinging morosely from the side of the well. "I had heard other demons talking about the Shikon Jewel. When I saw you, I knew you had it. I have to have it Kagome!" He jumped up on his little fox feet and curled his hands into fists. "I must avenge my father!"

Shaking her head and frowning, Kagome told him, "I'm sorry Shippou, but you're wrong. I really don't have whatever you're after. You're mistaken."

The little kitsune scowled and crossed his arms over his chest, strongly reminding Kagome of a petulant child. And Inuyasha.

"You do too have it, don't lie. It's right there." He poke one tiny finger into her side and frowned up at her. "You really shouldn't carry it there. It's not safe. Why if I was bigger, I could have just taken it!"

Kagome just blinked stupidly at him for a few seconds.

"What a minute." She looked down at her side where he had just poked her. "You're telling me I have a jewel inside of me?"

"Yup."

"And you can smell it?"

"Yup."

"And other demons can smell it too?"

"Uh-huh-"

"And it makes them more powerful, so they want to take it like you?"

"If they get near enough to you, they won't be able to resist."

Kagome raised an eyebrow. "You seem to be resisting pretty well."

Shippou shifted a little on the wooden boards. "I was raised better than to attack a lady."

_'Never mind that he basically did just that.'_

The eyebrow went a little higher.

"And I know my limitations!"

_'In other words, he's a coward.'_

Instead of pointing this out though, Kagome asked where he was staying.

"Out there." He pointed to the woods.

"Kind of scary."

"Not really." But his tail twitched as he said this and Kagome could hear a slight tremor in his voice.

_'I need to talk to Kaede.'_

Kagome adjusted the backpack on her shoulders and smiled down at him. "I have to go meet someone now. You're welcome to come with."

Almost instantly, Shippou brightened up. "Really!"

"Yeah, really." Kagome laughed at his mercurial change in mood.

As they walked back to Kaede's village, Shippou chattered away about his travels and his father. Kagome listened with half an ear, silently working in her head the information she had just come by. A jewel that made demons stronger. Something niggled at the back of her mind, but she could figure out why it seemed like something she had heard of before.

_'I wonder if Inuyasha would know about it.'_

* * *

You're fat, you're old and your breath stinks."

'Well, hello to you too', was the answering look.

"Why in the world does she hang around with you?"

Squinted eyes and a curved smile said quite plainly, 'Because I'm so darn cute'.

Inuyasha poked a clawed finger into the furry protrusion that was Buyo's stomach, snatching it back quickly after a warning growl.

"Feh, dumb cat."

Still, Buyo was the only company he had with Kagome off in another time. Inuyasha slumped onto the edge of the well and plucked the cat up from the ground and into his lap. His mind wandered aimlessly as he alternated between scratching under the cat's chin and giving absentminded pulls at both tail and ears, much to the dismay the now resigned feline. Somewhere around the fifteenth tugging of Buyo's left ear, the cat let out a mournful yowl, in hopes of being rescued by his sorely longed for mistress.

Instead...

"Eh? Buyo is that you?"

Inuyasha snapped out of his dreaming just as a gray-haired and wrinkled head poked itself into the well house.

Buyo let out another unhappy wail and squirmed against the hanyou's arms. Surprised at the presence of another person, Inuyasha let the cat drop to the floor and watched him bolt outside, his poor and abused tail waving indignantly in the air behind him. Inuyasha expected the door to close after him, but was again surprised as it opened even wider and Kagome's grandfather came in.

He tilted his head curiously as the old man reached into his robe and pulled out what looked like warding charms, an odd expression on his weathered face.

How weird.

And strange, that it almost seemed as though he was looking right... at... him...

"Oh, shit."

* * *

AN- Sorry for the shortness, but I'm still stuck on one part. So instead of making you wait until I figure out what to do next, I just put out what I had. :-)

Q and A (Other than 'Who is it?', which you now all know. I hope.)

Q. **dieforinuyasha**- Will all the characters of the anime be in here or only a few?

A. I'm going to try and fit as many in as I can without overcrowding. I don't want to do something like "Oh look, there are Kagura and Kanna! Well, now that they've been seen in the story we can kill them. Bang, you're dead. Rejoice, for we are victorious against the cameo demons!"

Q. **Pwalefriend**- Will Inuyasha be able to go into the past at one point?

A. Eventually, and I mean this in a very vague and completely noncommittal way, he will be able to travel as usual. As to when... (refer back to vague and noncommittal)

Q. **apAtHy aNgEl**- Can you add a truckload more fluff for me?

A. I can probably give you one of those little plastic toy trucks filled with fluff, but a real one might take a while. That's a lot of cargo space to fill.

Hmm, guess that's all. Thanks again for your reviews.

:-)

Bye for now.


	25. Confusion Abounds

AN- Late as usual. Sorry to make you guys wait so long. Just so you all don't worry in the future though, I plan on finishing this no matter how long it takes. I won't leave it hanging, as that pisses me off to no end when other people do it. :-)

Confusion Abounds

While many colorful phrases and applicable swear words raced through Inuyasha's head, all squarely intent upon complimenting his idiocy, it was one small, profanity free sentence that popped up which caused his ears to lay back in trepidation. A short compilation of words that sent more fear coursing throughout his body than any kind of charm the old man in front of him might be holding.

_'Kagome is going to be _so _pissed.' _

Why, oh why did he have to be sitting on the side of the well just now? It figured that the grandfather couldn't have come in during one of his marathon pacing sessions, or while he had been laying on the floor staring at the ceiling, or even that one time he had actually gone outside. Sure, Kagome's grandfather would have had to sprint in and out faster than an Olympic track star to have actually been here while Inuyasha was out, but that was entirely beside the point.

And the point, of course, was...

Oh yeah, here came the point now. Waving his arms around and yelling like he was trying to exorcise a demon from Hell. Then again, Inuyasha supposed, that's probably exactly what he was trying to do.

It would have been easy enough to leave. All he had to do was stand up and he would disappear, leaving the old man either completely confused or suspicious as to whether or not he was still hanging around. But...

He was bored.

Inuyasha quickly weighed his options. He could get up and hope her grandfather didn't mention his chance meeting with a demon in the well house. Not very likely, having seen firsthand the man's love for telling a good story, or even a not so good story. Not to mention all the bad stories. And the completely boring and pointless stories.

Anyway, the guy just couldn't keep his mouth shut.

So...

That left him with his other choice.

A little game Inuyasha liked to call, Pass the Time Until Kagome Comes Back by Messing With the Old Guy. Formerly known as, Pass the Time Until Kagome Comes Back by Messing With Buyo. It was an interchangeable theme.

There were probably other options, but he wasn't really that great at thinking of anything other than the obvious. Sometimes he wasn't even very good at seeing the obvious.

And between the two choices he gave himself...

He kept his seat on the well and hoped Kagome would be in a forgiving mood when she came back.

* * *

Kagome swallowed heavily and stared at the floor beneath her bent knees.

"I'm sorry child, I had not wanted to tell ye. The jewel was destroyed many years ago. It did not occur to me that it might return. Forgive me, but I did not wish to burden ye with such details, especially when ye felt so strongly about helping him."

Shaking her head, Kagome stood and gave Kaede a kind smile. "It's not your fault, so please don't blame yourself." Kagome paused and looked back to the floor for a brief moment. When she looked back up to the old Priestess, she had an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry, Lady Kaede, but-"

"Ye wish to return home?"

Kagome nodded. "I need to talk to Inuyasha. I need to hear what happened from him." Again she paused for a moment, biting her lip as she thought. Kaede waited patiently for her to continue.

"I'll be back next week though."

Kaede smiled gently at her. "Ye are so sure of this?"

"Yes," she answered with a sharp nod of her head. "No one deserves this fate. Even if..." Kagome gave a slight shake of her head. "I have to talk to Inuyasha. Um, about Shippou." She jerked her head to the little kitsune who was currently napping in a corner after having gorged himself on the breakfast Kaede had prepared earlier for Kagome and herself. For such a small body, his stomach could hold an amazing amount of food.

"Provided he keeps the mischief down, he is welcome to stay. Kitsune trouble-making was never more than we could handle."

_'That's one thing off my mind, at least.'_

"Thank you." Kagome waved a goodbye and stepped out into the early morning sunlight. As she squinted through the light, waiting for her eyes to adjust, her thoughts bumped about madly in her head. Question after question sprung up at her, nagging incessantly for her attention, but she had no real answers for any of them.

_'But Inuyasha will have answers. I hope.' _

With a small sigh, Kagome made a slow trek back to the Bone Eater's Well and her home. Though her thoughts swirled mercilessly around in her brain, by now Kagome was well trained enough by Kaede to know that she shouldn't be distracted while in the forest. She managed to remember this most of the time at least. It was fortunate for her that she followed her training today, or the attack from her left would have gone completely unnoticed. As it was, she barely managed to grab her bow from her shoulder and swing around before she was leaped upon and thrown to the grass.

The breath was knocked from her as she landed rather jarringly on her backpack and for a heart stopping second her vision blackened. Kagome managed to keep her arms up though and her sight returned almost immediately, much to her relief. The first thing she saw was her bow, held tightly in her clenched hands. Then she registered the teeth. And then the fur. And finally her brain put together all the images in front of her and gave her a rather frightening picture.

A huge and shaggy brown animal was pressing her to the ground, with only a small piece of wood and an arms length of space separating them. She couldn't tell exactly what kind of animal it was, having only a mawing group of teeth and some peripheral vision of the rest of it to go on. Sure she could turn her head and look, but at the moment, finding out what kind of wild animal was attacking and trying to eat her wasn't as important as trying to get said wild animal to _stop_ attacking and trying to eat her. Easier thought than done.

Sweat broke out on her forehead as she struggled to keep the gnashing teeth away from her throat. Her arms burned with the effort and she was at the same time both grateful that the animal was large enough to have its feet on the sides of her body instead of on top of it and terrified at the thought that there was no way she could win against something so huge.

_'Do something!'_

But the logical, thinking part of her brain had gone blank with terror and it could only scream stupidly at her (_'What happened! Oh my God! Oh my God!') _without providing any actual ideas for escape. Only seconds had passed, but already she could feel her strength waning against the sheer brute force of the animal on top of her. Tears formed in the corner of her eyes, but she rapidly blinked them away before they could cloud her vision.

_'Come on girl! Think! What would Inuyasha do?'_

Amazingly, as soon as Inuyasha's name came to mind, Kagome's will bolstered. What would he do? Well he sure as hell wouldn't give up, that's for sure. He'd fight.

With a fresh burst of energy, Kagome brought her knees up to her chest and kicked out with both of her feet as hard as she could. The beast hurtled backwards with a force that would have surprised Kagome if she had stuck around to see how far it flew. However, as soon as the creature was gone from on top of her, running was the only thing on Kagome's mind. As hard and as fast as she could, straight to the well. Unfortunately, her bow had been lost to her, having still been in the grip of the animal's teeth as it was shoved away, but Kagome was now only focused on getting the hell out of there and didn't waste time to look around and see if it had been dropped.

The well came into view and Kagome ran even faster, her breath coming out in harsh bursts of air, tearing at her throat and turning it raw. Only a little further, but where was the animal? All her instincts told her not to look back, to just keep running. Every scary movie she had ever seen had told her the folly of looking over your shoulder when you were trying to get away from the bad guy. You always trip or run into something or get caught.

So of course, like every stupid heroine ever yelled at, she looked back.

And immediately whipped her head back. She sprinted faster than she ever had in her life and thought in a brief flash of inane and completely unsurvival-like idiocy, that if her gym teacher could see her now, she would weep with joy at having found their school's new track star.

The thing was catching up, its paws thudding heavily on the earth behind her, so close she could hear its loud panting even over her own. Kagome shrugged off her backpack and tossed it clumsily behind her at the animal, catching it by surprise, but not hitting it. It gave her an extra second, though, and less weight to carry. She ran faster still.

Only a hundred feet more! So close!

She felt a sudden jerk at her waist and heard the ripping of material. She stumbled slightly and kept going, not looking back this time.

_'Just keep going. Almost there. Almost there.'_

The tears that threatened to fall before were now streaming down her cheeks, but she could still see the well and focused on it like there was nothing else in the world.

Fifty feet.

Another jerk at her clothes, this time accompanied by a searing pain on the right side of her hip. Crying out in pain, Kagome stumbled once more, barely keeping from falling over again. Her only saving grace was that the beast kept tripping too, each time it missed her, giving her a precious second to keep going.

Kagome ran for her life.

Twenty-five feet.

The animal was practically beside her.

Ten feet.

It made another lunge, but Kagome was ready for it and swung her arm to the side of its face. Sharp teeth gashed her flesh, but the attack was unsuccessful enough that she could keep going.

Five feet.

_'Please, please, please.'_

She gave one last burst of speed, using up the last of she reserves. With the well only a foot away, she gave a sudden desperate leap and flew down the shaft head first.

_'I made it!'_

Kagome's heart soared as the bottom of the well loomed in front of her. Suddenly, she came stopped falling, floating in midair. At least she thought this until the pain registered like a shock of white hot fire on her ankle half a second later. Turning at an awkward angel, she saw the top of the animal hanging over the edge, paws braced on the edge of the well, teeth locked around her ankle.

It began to drag her back out.

Horror and despair welled up in Kagome's chest.

"No!"

She twisted and turned,kicking and clawing at the side of the well, trying to find something to hold on to. Vines slipped by her hands and she clung to them. The animal continued to drag her out. Kagome gripped tightly to the vines, screaming at the searing pain that shot up her leg as the beast continued to pull at her.

Her strength began to give once more and her hands slipped slightly on the plants. Sobbing, Kagome caught at them again and pulled desperately against the powerful jaws of the animal. Warm blood flowed steadily up her leg from her ankle, soaking the legs of her already torn pants.

Arms trembling, Kagome continued to play tug-of-war with her own body, until finally, her hands slipped completely from the vines and she found her self almost completely out. She made one last helpless grab at the ledge and manged to catch the inside edge. Her head and shoulders were now the only thing left in the well.

_'Oh God, is this it? I'm going to die... Mom... Gramps... Souta... I'm so sorry. Inuyasha...looks like you were right after all. This place was too dangerous for me. Inuyasha...'_

She suddenly heard a memory of his voice in her mind.

"_Don't ask her! Make her teach you!"_

Kagome's arms were shaking violently now and she could barely feel her ankle, small blessing that it was.

"I'm sorry... Inuyasha," she whispered, her voice hoarse. "We never really got to that."

But she did remember something Kaede had taught her, at the very beginning of their training.

"_Will, Kagome. Ye must have a strong will to use the powers of a priestess to their full potential. Focus your will and ye shall be able to control the power to any form ye wish. We shall work more on that later."_

Oh why hadn't she insisted on being taught like Inuyasha had told her too?

_'I can't give up... I can't. But I'm so tired..."_

Even as she thought this, her arms gave up their hold on the well and she was quickly pulled the rest of the way out, her chin smacking sharply on the wood before she dropped to the ground with a heavy thud. Twisting around to her back, she could see the animal still had her ankle in its mouth. It growled around the flesh in its jaws and Kagome's heart raced in fear.

"_Focus your will..."_

The beast dropped her ankle, causing Kagome to bite back a cry of agony. She considered backing up to the well, but thought better of it. The animal was standing there, just baring it's teeth, growling. Any movement would set it at her throat, she knew.

"_Focus..."_

_'I don't want to die. Not now, not like this.. I have too much left to do!'_

"_...your will."_

_'I want to live! I can't die here, what will Inuyasha do? Souta and gramps will never understand. Mom won't be able to forgive herself. I _have _to live!'_

"I won't let you kill me!" The words burst from her throat and hurled themselves toward the beast in front of her. It blinked, as though confused by her fury, then gave an angry snarl and leaped.

"_Focus..."_

"No!" Kagome threw her hands up in front of her, palms out.

The beast was inches from her outstretched hands when an explosion of pink light erupted from her open palms, engulfing the animal in flames. It dropped on top of her, thrashing violently, clawing at the ground and tearing at her arms and chest as well.

Kagome screamed again and tied to move from under it. She finally managed to push it off her and rolled away, her back thumping against the side of the well. She watched in fascinated horror as the animal whined helplessly as the flames continued to eat at its body, until finally it went limp and unmoving. She continued watching until there was eventually nothing left but a pile of ash and charred bones.

For several seconds, Kagome stared, unblinking, at the pile of gray mess before her. Her brain had gone blank with shock and she barely registered the haggard, noisy breathing she heard as her own. Finally, after a small eternity that probably lasted no more than ten seconds, Kagome began to feel the aches of her body screaming for her attention. Her ankle throbbed sickeningly, her chest and arms burned and her chin, hip and hands stung. Though her more immediate worry for the moment was her stomach. Or more specifically, the horrible nausea welling up inside it.

Sore and pain ridden though she was, Kagome still managed to crawl the distance to a group of bushes before throwing up what little she had eaten that morning. It was almost a full two minutes before the retching subsided, leaving her with a hollow empty feeling in her gut. Crawling back over to the well, Kagome hosted herself to her one good foot and looked back to the pile of ash and bones once more. For a brief moment, Kagome thought of going to tell Kaede what had happened. She startled herself with a rough laugh.

Go back? She could barely hold herself up as it was. Going to the village was not an option.

Then, the only thing left to do was go home. Sitting down, Kagome levered her legs over the edge with as much gentleness as she could, hissing in pain as even that small movement cause fire to lance up from her ankle. Upon closer inspection she could see, through the tattered and blood soaked cuff of her pants, a nauseating vision of mangled flesh and muscle.

_'I had too look.'_

Gulping rapidly, Kagome closed her eyes to try and block the image from her mind.

"Oh, I think I'm going to be sick again." Her whisper turned out to be incorrect, however. Instead, she merely blacked out and tumbled headfirst into the well. A momentary feeling of weightlessness occurred to her before she gave in to the pull of unconsciousness. Three last thoughts skittered across her mind as she fell. The first: she was glad to have been at least been facing the right way before she fell. The second: Inuyasha was going to be so pissed at her. The third: stupid wolf.

* * *

"Where is he? Where is he?" Inuyasha laughed as he repeated back the words.

This was too much fun. Much better than Buyo, in fact. Why hadn't he ever thought to torment the old guy before?

A sudden image of a ten foot tall Kagome with fury in her eyes and fire shooting from behind her popped into his head.

Oh, yeah. That's why.

_'Well Kagome isn't going to be back for another day and a half, so what she doesn't know yet, wont hurt me.'_

Giving the old man's shirt another flip, he leaped over to the ledge of the well and crossed his arms, waiting for Kagome's grandfather to stop turning around and look back to him. As with the last four times, as soon as he turned back and saw Inuyasha standing on the well, he began chanting again, waving a slip of paper in the air.

Inuyasha gave a wide yawn and flopped down to sit on the edge.

"I don't know what you're mumbling over there, old man, but chances are it ain't gonna work. Though I would be real impressed if it did." He knew he wasn't being heard, but continued to hold his end of the conversation anyway. "It's probably a good thing there aren't really a lot of demons and such around anymore. You would be out of business real fast. Though on second thought, people are awful gullible, so maybe you would end up being stinking rich after all."

Closing his eyes, Inuyasha gave a hearty sigh and locked his hands behind his head, thinking about one specific and highly gullible person. No, that wasn't entirely true. Kagome wasn't so much gullible as... too willing to believe the best of people. Too willing to help and trust. Too willing to think she was capable of taking care of herself.

He growled at that last thought, baring his teeth angrily as he remembered all too well how steady she was in her belief of her ability to take care of herself. She just wouldn't listen to reason! No matter how many damn times he told her what his former era was like, she just brushed him off as being overprotective.

What was it going to take to convince her? Inuyasha slammed a fist into the wood beneath him and opened his eyes.

Oh, right... forgot about him for a minute.

Seeing that the charm was obviously not working, or at least making the recipient very angry for some reason., Kagome's grandfather backed quickly to the steps and raced up to the door. In his haste, he had left if open and Inuyasha could see him speeding to the storage area of the shrine.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and got up to follow.

"What the heck is that old man up to now? Some old relic, guaranteed to get rid of demons, no doubt. Well, let's just test it out shall we?"

Feeling only a tiny twinge of guilt, barely even deserving of the name really, Inuyasha trailed after the old shrine priest.

* * *

"Damn! Who knew the old coot had it in him?" Inuyasha inspected his arms once more, wincing slightly at the tiny speckles the dotted the back and palms of his hands and traveled part way up his wrists and forearms.

"Holy salt, go figure."

At first when he had seen the tiny packet of white grains, Inuyasha had nearly had a fit laughing at the old man, but once he had come back to the well house and had it thrown at him, the burning sensation hadn't been so funny anymore. At least self preservation had come forth enough for him to throw his hand up before it hit his face. Now that was something he didn't need. A mouthful of toxic table salt.

At least the geezer had been satisfied his cheap trick had worked and left him in peace after a quick circle of salt around the inside and outside of the well house. Inuyasha was smart enough to keep from reappearing in front of Kagome's grandfather again. Let the old guy think he won. Didn't hurt his pride any, and if it kept him from getting a dash of seasoning added to him, all the better.

Inuyasha flopped down to the floor and sighed deeply. Glancing out the window, he could see the sun hanging low on the horizon.

"Huh, guess I took up more of the day than I thought. Well that's good at least." Finding nothing more of interest either inside or out, Inuyasha laid down on his back and fell asleep with happy thoughts of less than a day left until Kagome would be home.

* * *

Something was wrong.

Actually, if she could only properly wake up, Kagome was sure she could find many, many things wrong, but at the moment she felt one certain, very specific thing wrong.

She wasn't home.

Even with her eyes closed, she knew she wasn't home. Not safe in her bed, not in the hospital, not even laying at the bottom of the well. The air was wrong, the noise was wrong, the smell was wrong.

She was still in the feudal era.

And that was very, very wrong.

_'I know I fell down the well, I know it.'_

Forcing her eyes open, Kagome tried to focus her vision to see what exactly had kept her from going home. Her eyes were being rather uncooperative, though she could tell she was outside at least. Wanting to look around better, she tried to sit up.

"I wouldn't recommend that just now. You are in a rather delicate condition."

Startled, Kagome ceased her, rather unsuccessful, attempt to get up and instead turned her head to see who had spoken, as it wasn't a voice she recognized. Her vision was still somewhat cloudy so she blinked a few times to clear them and gave a little gasp as the person beside her came into focus.

"I..." her voice came out in a scratchy whisper and she cleared it impatiently, with little result.

"I know you!"

* * *

AN- Evil, I know, but I wanted to get this out. You've been waiting patiently as usual for my slow butt and I didn't want to run late yet again.

Next one will be sooner, for sure.

Review responses will be given in reply format, since it is now frowned upon to answer questions after a story. So, slowly but surely I will get to thank you all (at least who signed) and answer questions. For those I can't reply to, I thank you now and I'll try to answer any question I can through story or ingenious hidden code.

So, bye for now. Thanks for reading and see you soon.

P.S. I keep a somewhat reliable status update for this fic on my profile page if anyone ever wonders when I will be getting around to updating. I know a lot of people already look, but for those who didn't know, well, now you do.


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